ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Diesel Fuel: Prices

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent assessment he has made of the unit retail price of diesel in (a) the UK and (b) other European countries; and if he will make a statement.

John Hayes: DECC publishes weekly, monthly and annual prices for petroleum products including road fuels and fuels used for home heating. The UK and other member states are required to report to the European Commission each week on the prices of petrol and diesel pre and post-tax. For the UK, the weekly results are based on a sample of major oil companies and supermarkets. Prices are published on the .GOV website on a Tuesday morning. On 12 February this update noted that on Monday 11 February the price of unleaded petrol was 135.6p/litre, and the price for diesel was 143.0p/litre.
	The OFT recently reported that before tax and duty the UK has consistently had some of the cheapest petrol and diesel prices in Europe, although after tax and duty UK prices are among the most expensive. The OFT noted that given the price paid for crude is likely to be similar all over Europe, this indicates that combined gross margins being made at the refining, wholesale and retail levels of the supply chain are among the lowest in Europe.
	Comparisons between member states should be made with some caution because of the impact the exchange rate can have on prices for countries not within the euro, and as there are differences in the methodology used to report prices in different states.

Staff

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will estimate his Department's total staffing requirement in full-time equivalent posts for fulfilling its minimum statutory obligations.

Gregory Barker: The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) is responsible for a wide range of statutory functions and obligations relating to energy and climate change issues. Full details on the Department's responsibilities and their implementation are available in the Department's published business plan:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/47961/decc-business-plan-2011-2015.pdf
	The level of staffing required to ensure delivery of these objectives varies over time depending on the needs of the business.
	DECC carries out a rigorous business planning approach to ensure that we allocate staff and skills to match the requirements of the business.
	Our current staffing levels are set out in our workforce planning information which can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/workforce-management-information-november-2012--2

Thorium

Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what consideration he has given to the use of thorium as a way of meeting future energy need.

John Hayes: DECC maintains an interest in the global potential of thorium.
	The Department commissioned the National Nuclear Laboratory to undertake an early stage assessment to compare thorium and uranium fuel cycles across a variety of reactor types. This was completed in 2012 and is available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/thorium-and-uranium-fuel-cycles-comparison-by-the-national-nuclear-laboratory
	For the longer term, the Department has commissioned a wider analysis of nuclear fuel cycle scenarios which are open to the UK, among which is a reactor design fuelled by molten thorium salts.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Departmental Responsibilities

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his Department's core statutory obligations are; and what estimate he has of the annual cost of delivering each such obligation.

David Lidington: The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs’ core responsibilities for conduct of the Government's foreign policy are mostly conducted under the Royal prerogative rather than under statute.
	Under section 3(2) of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act (CRAG) 2010, the Secretary of State has power to manage the diplomatic service. In 2011-12. the cost of running the diplomatic service was £1,049 million. Under section 20 of CRAG 2010, no treaty may be ratified unless it has been published and laid before Parliament. The cost of publishing treaties in the 2011-12 financial year was £51,023.
	Like all other public bodies, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office is subject to other general statutory obligations, for example in its capacity as an employer.

Shaker Aamer

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has made to his US counterpart on the condition of Shaker Aamer in Guantánamo Bay; and when he now expects Mr Aamer to be released.

Alistair Burt: The British Government remain committed to engagement with the US with the aim of securing Mr Aamer's release and return to the UK as soon as possible. Ministers and senior officials continue to raise Mr Aamer's case with their US counterparts.
	Previous legislation passed by the US Congress, namely the 2011 National Defense Authorisation Act (NDAA), all but precluded transfers out of Guantanamo Bay. This legislation was renewed by the US Government for 2012, allowing for the US Secretary of Defense to exercise a waiver should stringent conditions be met. Despite the British Government's best endeavours Mr Aamer was not released in 2012.
	The NDAA has now been renewed for 2013. We continue to work with US counterparts to consider the implications of the NDAA 2013 for Mr Aamer's case. Ultimately, any decision regarding Mr Aamer's release remains in the hands of the United States Government.

South Sudan

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to visit South Sudan to discuss increasing bilateral trade.

Mark Simmonds: I plan to visit in the near future.
	The former Minister for Africa, my hon. Friend the Member for North West Norfolk (Mr Bellingham), met a number of British businesses operating in South Sudan and asked the UK ambassador to establish a formal British Business Group when he visited South Sudan in May 2012. The first meeting of this group took place in November 2012 and seven UK companies were represented. These meetings will continue on a regular basis.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL

Recruitment

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Attorney-General how much the Law Officers' Departments have spent on advertising job vacancies since May 2010.

Oliver Heald: The Information requested is contained in the following table.
	
		
			 Department Recorded expenditure on advertising job vacancies since May 2010 (£) 
			 Treasury Solicitor's Department (TSol)(1) 8,305 
			 Crown Prosecution Service 23,534 
			 Serious Fraud Office 38,870 
			 (1) TSol data includes expenditure incurred by the Attorney-General's Office and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate up to 31 December 2012.

Senior Civil Servants

Chris Ruane: To ask the Attorney-General how many and what proportion of officials of the three most senior grades in the Law Officers' Departments have (a) resigned, (b) taken voluntary early retirement, (c) left the Law Officers' Departments for alternative employment, (d) been dismissed, (e) taken long-term sick leave and (f) taken administrative leave since May 2010.

Oliver Heald: The following table contains details on the number of individuals in the three most senior SCS grades (SCS1, SCS2, SCS3) or equivalent who have left for the above specified reasons.
	
		
			 Reason for leaving Crown Prosecution Service(1) Treasury Solicitor's Department(1) Serious Fraud Office 
			  Number Proportion (%) Number Proportion (%) Number Proportion (%) 
			 Resigned 1 1.2 1 6.25 0 — 
			 Voluntary early retirement 9 10.5 0 — 3 25 
			 Left for alternative employment 4 4.7 7 43.75 6 50 
			 Dismissed 0 — 0 — 0 — 
			 Long-term sick leave 0 — 0 — 0 — 
			 Administrative leave 0 — 0 — 0 — 
			 (1) The TSol figures also include the Attorney-General's 0ffice and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate.

Serious Fraud Office

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General for which ongoing investigations the Serious Fraud Office (a) has sought and (b) intends to seek additional funding from the Exchequer.

Oliver Heald: The Serious Fraud Office has asked for additional funding for one current investigation, relating to Libor.

Written Questions

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General how many staff in the Law Officers' Departments work on answering parliamentary questions.

Oliver Heald: The Attorney-General's Office employs one Parliamentary Clerk who co-ordinates the answering of parliamentary questions across the Law Officers' Departments.
	Officials from across the Law Officers' Departments work on answering parliamentary questions depending on the subject matter and it is not possible to estimate exactly how many members of staff may be involved.

TRANSPORT

Electric Vehicles

Mark Tami: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of electric personal vehicles in use on UK roads in each of the last five years.

Norman Baker: The numbers of registered electric cars and motorcycles in Great Britain for the end of September 2012 (the latest figures available) and as at the end of each of the previous five years are shown in the table below.
	
		
			  Cars(1)  
			 Numbers licensed as at: Electric Plug-in Hybrid Electric Hybrid Electric Total Of which Plug-in Grant Eligible(2) Electric Motor Bikes(3) 
			 Sep 2012 3,597 784 121,687 126,068 2,629 1,347 
			 Dec 2011 2,621 28 103,182 105,831 1,171 1,503 
			 Dec 2010 1,547 21 82,802 84,370 134 1,414 
			 Dec 2009 1,453 0 61,056 62,509 not applicable 1,224 
			 Dec 2008 1,325 0 61,056 62,381 not applicable 898 
			 Dec 2007 1,192 0 31,774 32,966 not applicable 560 
			 (1) Includes Quadricycles (e.g. Renault Twizy, Reva G-Wiz) (2) Plug-in Grant was introduced from January 2010. Figures based on models which are eligible for grant, not actual grant claims (3) Includes mopeds, scooters and tricycles. Note: Vehicle types, other than cars and motorcycles are excluded as they are assumed not to be ‘personal vehicles’. Also excluded are invalid carriages. The figures shown include vehicles with both private and company registered keepers. Source: DfT Vehicle Licensing Statistics, derived from the DVLA vehicle register, an operational database used to handle the licensing of vehicles registered in Great Britain.

Motor Vehicles: Registration

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many cars that have previously been declared off-road via a statutory off-road notification have since been taxed for road use in each of the last five years.

Stephen Hammond: The information requested is not readily available and would incur disproportionate costs to gather.

Motorways

Meg Munn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received on removing the hard shoulder of motorways to create an extra lane.

Stephen Hammond: The Highways Agency has received a number of representations from local highways authorities, emergency services and other affected parties in relation to managed motorway schemes planned for the M25, M1, M3, M6, M60 and M62.
	In all cases the Agency continues to have active and productive dialogue with all interested parties.
	In South and West Yorkshire emergency responders and the Agency are setting up a group to agree the operational procedures for these schemes.

Railways: North West

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment his Department has made of the effect of Northern Hub on commuter services through Mossley train station.

Simon Burns: Changes to timetables arising from the Northern Hub will be implemented in December 2016 and 2018. Consultation on proposed services for Mossley will take place before that date and no decisions has therefore yet been taken.

Regulation

Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many and which regulations his Department repealed between 1 June 2012 and 31 January 2013; and what estimate he has made of the savings that will accrue to those affected by each such regulation as a result of its repeal.

Stephen Hammond: Twenty-one statutory instruments were revoked between 1 June 2012 and 31 January 2013. These are listed in the following table.
	Where an impact assessment has been prepared for the instrument that contained the revocation, the best estimate of the total benefit to those affected and the best estimate of the total net present value are given.
	These sums relate to the values associated with the introduction of the instrument containing the revocations. It is not possible, except at disproportionate cost, to provide savings attributable solely to the revocations, in particular because of the further analysis that would be required.
	Where no benefit figure is given, this is because no impact assessment was produced for the instrument containing the revocation. Impact assessments are not usually produced where no significant impact on the private or voluntary sectors is foreseen. In the case of the Severn Bridges Tolls Order, it has not been the practice of the Department to produce impact assessments for orders of this type that change toll levels.
	
		
			 Statutory Instrument containing the revocation SI Number Made on Statutory Instrument (s) revoked/Act(s) repealed Date of coming into force of revocation Best estimate of total benefit (present value) based on impact assessment (£million) Best estimate total net present value based on impact assessment (£ million) Impact assessment 
			 Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) (Amendment) Regulations 2012 2012 No. 1404 28/05/2012 Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) (Amendment) Regulations 1999 1999/1521 25/06/2012    
			 As above   Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) (Amendment No. 2) Regulation 1999 1999/1959     
			 As above   Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) (Amendment) Regulations 2004 2004/1706     
			 As above   Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) (Amendment) Regulations 2005 2005/1641     
			 As above   Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) (Amendment) Regulations 2006 2006/1756     
			 As above   Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) (Amendment) Regulations 2007 2007/1817     
			 As above   Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) (Amendment) Regulations 2008 2008/1702     
			 As above   Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2009 2009/1806     
			 Community Drivers’ Hours and Recording Equipment Regulations 2012 2012 No. 1502 11/06/2012 Drivers’ Hours (Goods Vehicles) (Milk Collection) (Temporary Exemption) Regulations 2007 2007/2370 16/07/2012 10.21 10.22 IA 
			 Merchant Shipping (Accident Reporting and Investigation) Regulations 2012 2012 No. 1743 04/07/2012 Merchant Shipping (Accident Reporting and Investigation) Regulations 2005 2005/881 31/07/2012 2.39 -3.69 IA 
			 Poole Harbour Revision Order 2012 2012 No. 1777 05/07/2012 Poole Harbour Act 1756 23/07/2012    
		
	
	
		
			 As above   Poole Harbour Acts 1895     
			 As above   Poole Harbour Acts 1925     
			 M25 Motorway (Junctions 7 to 16) (Variable Speed Limits) Regulations 2012 2012 No. 2134 15/08/2012 M25 Motorway (Junctions 10 to 16) (Variable Speed Limits) Regulations 2001 2001/3763. 17/09/2012 110.5 71.6 IA 
			 Rehabilitation Courses (Relevant Drink Offences) Regulations 2012 2012 No. 2939 22/11/2012 Road Traffic (Courses for Drink-Drive Offenders) Regulations 1992 1992/3013. 21/12/2012 0.13 0.12 IA 
			 Air Navigation (Dangerous Goods) (Amendment) Regulations 2012 2012 No. 3054 05/12/2012 Air Navigation (Dangerous Goods) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2011 2011/1454. 01/01/2013    
			 Severn Bridges Tolls Order 2012 2012 No. 3136 18/12/2012 Severn Bridges Tolls Order 2011 2011/3060 01/01/2013    
			 Driving Licences (Exchangeable Licences) (Amendment) Order 2013 2013 No. 22 10/01/2013 Driving Licences (Exchangeable Licences) Order 1984 1984/672 19/01/2013    
			 As above   Driving Licences (Exchangeable Licences) Order 1985 1985/65     
			 As above   Driving Licences (Exchangeable Licences) (No. 2) Order 1985 1985/1461     
			 As above   Driving Licences (Exchangeable Licences) (Amendment) Order 2002 2002/1593

Roads

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport by what process a non-core trunk road can be reclassified as part of the core network of nationally important routes.

Stephen Hammond: The strategic national corridors were established in 2009 to define the transport links over which the largest proportion of strategic traffic—that is traffic travelling between the 10 largest urban areas, 10 busiest ports and seven busiest airports in England—moves around the country. The strategic national corridors are therefore defined by the places they connect and the size of traffic flows using them rather than by road classification. A road could become part of the strategic national corridor if the total or HGV traffic flows grew to be within the top 20% for GB trunk roads in England, or if the Department for Transport were to change the criteria used to define the SNCs. The Government have no current plans to review the criteria for the strategic national corridors.

Staff

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many staff were employed by his Department in each of the last five years; and at what grade or pay band such staff were appointed.

Norman Baker: The total number of staff employed by the Department for Transport and its seven Executive Agencies for the last five years can be found in the table below. The Government Car and Despatch Agency ceased to be a separate agency in September 2012.
	
		
			 Civil Service Grade 
			 Year Senior Civil Service Grades 6 and 7 Senior and Higher Executive Officers Executive Officers Administrative Officers and Assistants Not reported Total 
			 2008 190 1,190 3,540 6,010 7,780 20 18,730 
			 2009 190 1,270 3,720 6,280 7,760 0 19,220 
			 2010 210 1,360 3,800 6,240 7,700 0 19,310 
			 2011 180 1,240 3,710 4,760 8,450 0 18,340 
			 2012 180 1,170 3,640 4,600 8,030 0 17,620

WORK AND PENSIONS

Carers

Gregg McClymont: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of people caring for less than 20 hours per week and who are not in employment.

Esther McVey: In 2010-11 there were an estimated 1.1 million adults who are informal carers, caring for less than 20 hours per week, and not working.
	Source:
	Family Resources Survey 2010-11
	Notes:
	1. The Family Resources Survey (FRS) is a nationally representative sample of approximately 25,000 private households across the United Kingdom. Data for the 2010-11 survey year is collected between April 2010 and March 2011.
	2. Figures from the FRS are based on a sample of households which have been adjusted for non-response using multi-purpose grossing factors which align the estimates to region populations by age and sex. Estimates are subject to sampling error and remaining non-response error.
	3. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 0.1 million.
	4. Informal carers are individuals who provide any regular service or help to someone, in or outside of .their household who is sick, disabled or elderly; excludes those who give this help as part of a formal job.

Departmental Responsibilities

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his Department's core statutory obligations are; and what estimate he has of the annual cost of delivering each such obligation.

Mark Hoban: The Department takes the view that its core statutory obligations are (a) determining entitlement to all social security benefits (but not child benefit, tax credits, housing benefit or council tax benefit); (b) calculating and paying those benefits; (c) paying subsidy to local authorities for the payment of housing benefit and council tax benefit; (d) establishing and maintaining the regulatory and protection framework (including the Financial Assistance Scheme) for work place pensions and certain pensions-related bodies (e) providing employment and training programmes; (f) operating the child maintenance scheme; and (g) complying with data governance obligations.
	The Department's annual expenditure is set out in its annual report and accounts, and the annual cost of meeting these obligations is therefore covered by the figures in those accounts.
	The annual report and accounts for the year 2011-12 is at:
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/dwp-annual-report-and-accounts-2011-2012.pdf
	and relevant parts are:
	Pages 9 to 20—Introduction and Performance summary
	Page 210—Table 1: breakdown of Public spending (includes AME)
	Page 223—Table 8: expenditure by function

Funeral Payments

Lorely Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many applications for social fund funeral payments were (a) received and (b) approved in each month since January 2007; and what the total cost was for each such month.

Steve Webb: The information is contained in the following table.
	
		
			 Table 1: Funeral payment applications, awards and expenditure each month from 2007 onwards 
			  Applications received Awards made Total cost of amount awarded (£) 
			 April 2007 5,200 3,200 3,648,700 
			 May 2007 5,400 3,400 3,923,700 
			 June 2007 5,600 3,200 3,733,800 
			 July 2007 5,700 3,600 4,168,300 
			 August 2007 5,500 3,400 3,975,400 
			 September 2007 4,400 2,700 3,171,700 
			 October 2007 5,000 3,100 3,646,900 
			 November 2007 5,200 3,200 3,770,700 
			 December 2007 3,400 2,000 2,319,700 
			 January 2008 6,700 4,000 4,618,100 
			 February 2008 7,500 4,400 5,201,500 
			 March 2008 5,400 3,200 3,777,300 
			 April 2008 6,000 3,600 4,350,900 
			 May 2008 5,400 3,300 3,965,400 
			 June 2008 5,800 3,400 4,078,400 
			 July 2008 5,700 3,700 4,378,200 
			 August 2008 5,000 2,900 3,480,000 
			 September 2008 5,200 3,100 3,762,800 
			 October 2008 5,300 3,200 3,782,200 
			 November 2008 4,900 2,800 3,370,200 
			 December 2008 4,600 2,500 2,976,000 
			 January 2009 6,900 3,800 4,556,400 
		
	
	
		
			 February 2009 6,600 3,900 4,666,700 
			 March 2009 7,000 4,200 5,008,100 
			 April 2009 5,900 3,500 4,106,100 
			 May 2009 5,100 3,100 3,681,300 
			 June 2009 5,800 3,300 4,028,600 
			 July 2009 5,600 3,400 4,112,900 
			 August 2009 5,300 2,900 3,516,800 
			 September 2009 5,200 3,200 3,915,800 
			 October 2009 5300 3,100 3,740,900 
			 November 2009 5,400 3,100 3,767,100 
			 December 2009 4,800 2,600 3,086,200 
			 January 2010 6,400 3,500 4,207,400 
			 February 2010 6,500 3,800 4,617,100 
			 March 2010 6,300 3,600 4,342,900 
			 April 2010 5,800 3,000 3,627,700 
			 May 2010 5,300 3,100 3,691,800 
			 June 2010 5,800 3,200 3,817,400 
			 July 2010 5,400 2,800 3,381,400 
			 August 2010 4,700 2,500 3,019,000 
			 September 2010 5,500 2,800 3,478,100 
			 October 2010 4,900 3,100 3,830,100 
			 November 2010 6,100 4,000 4,837,900 
			 December 2010 4,100 2,400 2,955,200 
			 January 2011 6,900 3,500 4,279,400 
			 February 2011 6,900 3,900 4,787,300 
			 March 2011 7,500 3,900 4,761,000 
			 April 2011 5,200 2,600 3,164,800 
			 May 2011 6,100 3,200 4,033,700 
			 June 2011 5,800 3,700 4,693,400 
			 July 2011 5,300 3,200 3,963,700 
			 August 2011 5,300 2,900 3,669,900 
			 September 2011 5,900 3,300 4,056,300 
			 October 2011 5,300 2,800 3,441,400 
			 November 2011 5,700 3,100 3,794,300 
			 December 2011 5,000 2,600 3,236,600 
			 January 2012 6,800 3,400 4,147,600 
			 February 2012 6,100 3,600 4,415,100 
			 March 2012 5,900 3,300 4,101,500 
			 April 2012 5,600 2,800 3,404,300 
			 May 2012 6,300 3,300 4,051,500 
			 June 2012 5,300 2,900 3,601,000 
			 July 2012 5,500 3,000 3,774,500 
			 August 2012 5,500 3,000 3,796,700 
			 September 2012 4,900 2,600 3,315,000 
			 October 2012 5,300 3,000 3,745,000 
			 November 2012 5,200 2,800 3,467,100 
		
	
	
		
			 December 2012 4,200 2,300 2,246,700 
			 January 2013 7,000 3,600 4,375,400 
			 Notes: 1. The information provided is Management Information. Our preference is to answer ail parliamentary questions using Official/National Statistics but in this case we only have Management Information available. It is not quality assured to the same extent as Official/National statistics and there are some issues with the data, for example, it does not include applications which were processed clerically and have not yet been entered on to the Social Fund Computer System. 2. Figures are for applications received, not for the number of people who made an application, and for initial awards made, not the number of people who received an initial award. (Some people made more than one application or received more than one initial award.)

Funeral Payments

Lorely Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average time taken to process an application for a social fund funeral payment from the time of death to the date of payment was in each year since 2007.

Steve Webb: Processing times are calculated from the date claim is received to the date of the decision and these are provided in the following table:
	
		
			 Table 1: Funeral payment processing times 
			 April to March: Average time to process in working days 
			 2007-08 14.6 
			 2008-09 14.1. 
			 2009-10 14.5 
			 2010-11 14.5 
			 2011-12 13.8 
			 Notes: 1. We do not measure the time it takes for a claim to be submitted following the date of death. 2. Payment is normally made on the same day as the decision but if this is late in the day, the payment may be issued the following day. 3. The average actual clearance time standard from 2007 to date is 16 working days. 4. The information provided is Management Information. Our preference is to answer all parliamentary questions using Official/National Statistics but in this case we only have Management Information available. It is not quality assured to the same extent as Official/National statistics and there are some issues with the data, for example, it does not include applications which were processed clerically and have not yet been entered on to the Social Fund Computer System.

Hyperkinetic Syndrome: Children

Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of support for parents who have children with hyperkinetic syndrome.

Mark Hoban: We have made no such assessment. However a range of financial support may be available, depending on the individual circumstances of the family and how the condition affects the child. This could include disability living allowance for the child (depending on how the condition affects the child's care or mobility needs) and carers allowance.
	A range of other income related benefits may also be available for the family depending on their financial circumstances such as jobseeker's allowance or income support, tax credits, child benefit.

New Enterprise Allowance: Disability

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 28 January 2013, Official Report, columns 645-6W, on employment schemes: disability, how many of the 3460 disabled people securing new enterprise allowance mentor starts between April 2011 and May 2012 had stopped claiming employment and support allowance by the most recent date for which data is available.

Mark Hoban: The NEA is currently only available to people aged 18 and over who are claiming JSA.
	Therefore all of the 3,460 disabled people that started with a mentor between April 2011 and May 2012 were claiming jobseeker's allowance (JSA) not employment support allowance.

Redundancy

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to protect (a) vulnerable people and (b) people with disabilities from redundancy.

Jo Swinson: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
	Employees may not be selected for redundancy because they are vulnerable or disabled. The selection process for redundancy must be fair and balanced for all employees.
	However, the duration of a worker's employment and numbers of workers required are of course matters for the employer concerned.

Regulation

Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what regulations his Department have repealed in the last six months; and what has been the anticipated cost saving of each such repeal.

Mark Hoban: The following sets of statutory instruments were revoked between July and December 2012 by my Department. Further information on cost savings on each revocation is provided where it is available.
	Regulation 10 of the Child Support (Meaning of Child and New Calculation Rules) (Consequential and Miscellaneous Amendment) Regulations 2012 (SI 2012/2785) revokes the following instruments:
	the Child Support (Maintenance Assessment Procedure) Regulations 1992;
	the Child Support (Maintenance Assessments and Special Cases) Regulations 1992;
	the Child Support (Maintenance Assessments and Special Cases) Amendment Regulations 1993;
	the Child Support Departure Direction and Consequential Amendments Regulations 1996;
	the Child Support (Maintenance Calculations and Special Cases) Regulations 2000;
	the Child Support (Variations) Regulations 2000; and
	the Child Support (Maintenance Calculation Procedure) Regulations 2000.
	The revocations have effect in relation to a particular case on the day on which paragraph 2 of schedule 4 to the 2008 Act (calculation by reference to gross weekly income) comes into force in relation to that type of case.
	A copy of the impact assessment can be viewed at:
	http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/2785/pdfs/uksifia_20122785_en.pdf
	The following instruments were revoked by the Health and Safety (Miscellaneous Revocations) Regulations 2012 (S.I. 2012/1537) which came into force on 1 October 2012:
	Regulations, dated 24 August 1906, made by the Secretary of State for Use of Locomotives and Waggons on Lines and Sidings in or used in connexion with Premises under the Factory and Workshop Act, 1901 (S.R. & O 1906/679);
	The Pottery (Health and Welfare) Special Regulations 1950 (S.I. 1950/65);
	The Non-ferrous Metals (Melting and Founding) Regulations 1962 (S.I. 1962/1667);
	The Employment Medical Advisory Service (Factories Act Orders etc. Amendment) Order 1973 (S.I. 1973/36);
	The Health and Safety (Foundries etc.) (Metrication) Regulations 1981 (S.I. 1981/1332);
	The Pottery (Health etc.) (Metrication) Regulations 1982 (S.I. 1982/877);
	The Anthrax Prevention Order 1971 etc. (Revocation) Regulations 2005 (S.I. 2005/228).
	A copy of the impact assessment can be viewed at:
	http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/1537/pdfs/uksifia_20121537_en.pdf
	The following instrument was revoked by the Health and Safety (Fees) Regulations 2012 which came into force on 1 October 2012:
	Health and Safety (Fees) Regulations 2010 (S.I. 2010/579).
	The 2010 regulations were replaced almost in their entirety by the 2012 regulations, which also introduced ‘Fee for Intervention’. There were no cost savings anticipated from the revocation.

Social Security Benefits

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to his Department's impact assessment on the Welfare Benefits Up-rating Bill, what the expected savings to the Exchequer are for each individual benefit in (a) 2014-15, (b) 2015-16, (c) 2016-17 and (d) 2017-18.

Steve Webb: holding answer 31 January 2013
	The expected Exchequer savings from individual benefits in the Welfare Benefits Up-rating Bill are presented in the following table:
	
		
			 £ million 
			  2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 
			 Tax Credits 540 990 990 
			 Employment and Support Allowance 140 250 250 
			 Income Support 40 80 80 
			 Jobseeker's Allowance 90 160 160 
			 Housing Benefit 20 30 . 50 
		
	
	
		
			 UC additional savings 20 100 150 
			 Child Benefit 170 280 310 
			 Other 30 50 50 
			 Notes: 1. A detailed breakdown is not available for 2017-18. 2. During this period the benefit and tax credit system is undergoing significant reform with the introduction of universal credit which will see a number of individual benefits amalgamated into a single payment. 3. The savings are presented in a consistent fashion with the autumn statement forecasts. 4. Rounded to nearest £10 million and numbers may not sum due to rounding.

State Retirement Pensions

Gregg McClymont: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the triple lock on the proposed single tier state pension will apply to benefits accrued by people in the second state pension.

Steve Webb: The Coalition's commitment to protect the basic state pension by the ‘triple-lock’ ensures that its value is increased by the highest of price inflation, earnings growth or 2.5%. The illustration of single tier in the White Paper similarly uses an assumption of triple-lock uprating.
	Consistent with legislation for the current basic state pension, the draft Pensions Bill provides that the single-tier pension is to be uprated by at least the growth in average earnings, regardless of the class or type of national insurance contribution from which the entitlement is derived or when the contributions were paid.
	Where a person's national insurance contribution record at the point of implementation gives a potential entitlement which is above the level of the full single-tier pension, the draft Bill provides for the excess to be paid as a 'protected payment’. The draft Bill also provides that this protected payment will be both revalued and uprated in line with prices.
	Future decisions on uprating the single-tier pension will be made by the Government of the day closer to implementation, and as part of the annual uprating process, underpinned by the legislative minimum of earnings.

Winter Fuel Payments: Perth

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) households and (b) individuals in Perth and North Perthshire constituency have received winter fuel payments in each of the last three years.

Steve Webb: Information on winter fuel payments in Perth and North Perthshire constituency in each of the last three years is provided in the documents for each winter entitled “Winter Fuel Payment recipients by Parliamentary Constituencies and Gender (All)” and “Winter Fuel Payment recipients by Parliamentary Constituencies by Household (All)”. This is available on the internet at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page=wfp
	Notes:
	1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
	2. Parliamentary constituencies are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant ONS postcode directory.
	3. Figures from 2010-11 recognise the May 2010 structural changes to the parliamentary constituencies of England and Wales.
	Source:
	DWP Information Governance and Security

Work Capability Assessment

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many Atos recommendations that a person should be fit for work have been overturned by his Department's decision makers (a) through their own assessment before any representations have been received from or on behalf of the claimant about the Atos recommendation in their case and (b) after such representations had been received.

Mark Hoban: Between October 2008 and August 2012 there were 1,390,800 initial WCAs held. Of these, 62,400 were recommended as being fit for work by the Atos Health Care Professional, but later deemed to be eligible for either the Support Group or the Work Related Activity Group by the DWP Decision Maker.
	Information on whether these decisions were made before or after receipt of a representation is not available.

Work Capability Assessment

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many other contractors bid for the last round of contracts for the employment and support allowance and disability assessment services currently provided to his Department by Atos; and how many of those bidders were considered by his Department to be capable of providing a suitable level of service.

Mark Hoban: Two other contractors tendered for the current Medical Services Agreement in 2005. Employment support allowance was not a benefit provided by the Department at that time. This was added to the Agreement in 2008. All the bidders were evaluated against the standards specified in the tender, including level of service and all bidders met those standards. The decision to award the contract by the previous government to Atos was based on best value for money for the taxpayer.

Work Programme

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 28 January 2013, Official Report, column 658W, on Work programme, if he will begin to record the number of people achieving job outcomes on zero-hour contracts.

Mark Hoban: The Department does not intend to record the number of people achieving job outcomes on zero-hour contracts.

Work Programme

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of payment by results in the Work programme.

Mark Hoban: It is too soon to judge the effectiveness of payment by results in the Work programme—we have just over one year's data for a programme that is designed to support people for two years or more. However, we know that the Work programme is helping people off benefit and into employment, and that job entries are increasing.
	ERSA, the trade body for the welfare to work industry, has published evidence suggesting that the Work programme is achieving the lowest cost-per-job versus any comparable programme in the last 20 years. They show relative cost per job of the Work programme is £2,097 compared to a £7,495 cost-per-job for flexible new deal.

Work Programme: Yorkshire and the Humber

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what reduction in long-term unemployment there has been since the start of the Work programme in (a) Brigg and Goole constituency and (b) Yorkshire and the Humber.

Mark Hoban: Since June 2011 the number of people claiming jobseeker's allowance for more than a year has risen from 230 to 580 in Brigg and Goole and from 21,330 to 47,830 in Yorkshire and the Humber. However, nationally the number of people unemployed for over 12 months on the broader ILO measure fell by 5,000 in the latest quarter.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Broadband

Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans her Department has for developing a framework between local authorities and network operators for a more efficient application process for permit regimes for the expansion of broadband provision.

Edward Vaizey: On 15 January 2013, the Department for Transport published additional guidance for local authorities developing and operating future permit schemes for road works. This guidance requires future schemes to focus on the most strategically significant streets and adopt a revised fees structure for major works reflecting the duration. These changes will reduce the bureaucracy faced by broadband providers when laying new cables and installing cabinets in streets, and support efficient and proportionate permit schemes.

Departmental Responsibilities

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what her Department's core statutory obligations are; and what estimate she has of the annual cost of delivering each such obligation.

Hugh Robertson: The statutory obligations of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State are set out in a wide range of legislation. However, the costs of carrying out these obligations are not recorded separately from the costs of wider policy making and delivery across the full range of the Department's responsibilities for Culture, Media, Sport and Equalities.

Government Procurement Card

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what guidance or instructions have been issued to staff in (a) her Department and (b) its arm's length bodies about the timing of the publication of data relating to spend over (i) £25,000 and (ii) £500 using the Government Procurement Card.

Hugh Robertson: The guidance on the timing of the publication of data relating to expenditure transactions over £25,000 is in line with the HM Treasury guidance available on their website:
	www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/psr_transparency_index.htm
	There have been no instructions issued to staff in the Department or in any of our ALBs about publication of expenditure over £500 on GPCs but details of such spending can be found here:
	www.transparency.culture.gov.uk/2012/11/22/dcms-spend-approvals-01-april-2012-30-september-2012/

Third Sector

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if her Department will consider developing strategic relations with third sector organisations.

Hugh Robertson: The Department and its arm's length bodies already possess a number of strategic relationships with third sector organisations to aid the delivery of key programmes and projects.

Tourism: Snow and Ice

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the possible effects of further inclement weather on (a) the hospitality industry and (b) hotels and holiday resorts in the UK.

Hugh Robertson: While no specific assessment has been made of the possible effects of further inclement weather, it is recognized that the weather is a factor that influences domestic tourism patterns and visitor expenditure (its impact on inbound visitors is much more limited). VisitEngland has worked with the Met Office to examine the impacts of weather forecasting and in particular how medium-term forecasts can impact on resorts. The inclement summer weather of recent years has caused destinations to examine more wet weather options for visitors and many are now offering a much wider choice of activities.

CABINET OFFICE

Civil Servants: Pay

Paul Flynn: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many civil service employers have stopped paying progression steps since May 2010; and how many civil servants that would otherwise have received annual increments since May 2010 have not received them.

Francis Maude: holding answer 11 February 2013
	The delegated arrangements for staff outside the senior civil service mean that the pay arrangements in Departments vary reflecting business and work force needs. The Cabinet Office does not hold details of the individual pay systems operated by Departments.

Departmental Responsibilities

Priti Patel: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  what his Department's core statutory obligations are; and what estimate he has of the annual cost of delivering each such obligation;
	(2)  if he will estimate his Department's total staffing requirement in full-time equivalent posts for fulfilling its minimum statutory obligations.

Francis Maude: holding answer 11 February 2013
	My Department has various statutory obligations. I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given on 6 February 2013, Official Report, column 266, where I outline my responsibilities and to my Department's business plans:
	http://transparency.number10.gov.uk/business-plan/1
	Further detail of departmental expenditure is contained in our annual reports and accounts.
	My Department publishes headcount information at:
	http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/payroll-costs-and-non-consolidated-pay-data

Emergency Services: Telecommunications

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office further to the answer of 30 January 2013, Official Report, column 865W, on emergency services: telecommunications, whether his Department is responsible for ensuring emergency services can communicate with each other; what the size and nature is of the additional resilient telecoms capability; and what guidance his Department provides on the security requirements of emergency services telecoms capability.

Francis Maude: Emergency responders are individually responsible for assessing and determining the capabilities of the telecommunications services they need and the security requirements for these services. My Department provides statutory guidance in 'Emergency Preparedness' to responders about their responsibilities under the Civil Contingencies Act (2004) which includes the duties to co-operate and share information. The Cabinet Office also provides non statutory guidance which references interoperability set out in 'Emergency Response and Recovery.'
	Additional resilient telecoms capability is provided by the Cabinet Office including via the High Integrity Telecommunications System; the National Resilience Extranet, and the Mobile Telecommunications Privileged Access Scheme.

Equal Pay

Paul Flynn: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many civil service employers have carried out equal pay audits since May 2010.

Francis Maude: The delegated arrangements for staff outside the senior civil service mean that the pay arrangements in the civil service vary by Department, reflecting their own individual business and work force needs.
	The Cabinet Office does not hold details of the individual pay systems operated by Departments, and it is up to individual Departments to conduct pay audits.

Official Residences

Thomas Docherty: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many bedrooms there are at (a) Chequers, (b) Chevening and (c) Dorneywood.

Francis Maude: holding answer 12 February 2013
	Chequers, Chevening and Dorneywood have been left in trust for the use of certain Government Ministers. Information about the residences is publicly available.

Staff

Priti Patel: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  how many staff were employed by his Department in each of the last five years; and at what grade or pay band such staff were appointed;
	(2)  how many staff were employed by the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office in each of the last five years; and at what grade or pay band such staff were appointed.

Francis Maude: The Deputy Prime Minister's Office is an integral part of the Cabinet Office.
	The number of staff employed by my Department is published each year in the Cabinet Office annual report and accounts which is available at:
	http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/cabinet-office-annual-reports-and-accounts
	The information about grade on appointment is not readily available.

Travel

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how much his Department spent on (a) the Government Car Service and (b) other taxi or car services for ministerial travel in each year since 2009-10; and if he will make a statement.

Francis Maude: Details of how much my Department has spent on the Government Car Service is published in the annual written ministerial statement, which can be found within the Libraries of both Houses:
	2009-10:
	http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmhansrd/cm101028/wmstext/101028m0001.htm#10102827000372
	2010-11:
	http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201212/cmhansrd/cm120116/wmstext/120116m0001.htm#12011611000194
	2011-12:
	http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmhansrd/cm121220/wmstext/121220m0001.htm#12122056000216
	As was the case under previous Administrations, records of taxi use by my Department are not recorded centrally.

Voluntary Work

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what recent assessment he has made of the benefits to the individual of volunteering.

Nick Hurd: The Cabinet Office recognises that volunteering can help individuals in their personal and professional development, and is now exploring the link between volunteering and well-being. The evaluation of the 2012 National Citizen Service pilots seeks to measure the well-being of participants.

HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Crime Prevention

Mark Pritchard: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, representing the House of Commons Commission, if he will introduce smartwater technology to reduce the number of thefts from the Parliamentary estate.

John Thurso: A variety of crime prevention and detection techniques are used across the Estate. We do not comment directly on security matters.

Parliament: Security

James Duddridge: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, representing the House of Commons Commission, 
	(1)  pursuant to the answer of 5 February 2013, Official Report, columns 124-25W, on all party groups, if he will list the (a) names, (b) employers and (c) sponsors of the 81 parliamentary pass holders registered as providing secretariat support to an All-Party Parliamentary Group;
	(2)  what representations he has received on the issuing of parliamentary passes to individuals providing secretariat support to All Party Parliamentary Groups;
	(3)  how many applications have been received for parliamentary passes for the purpose of providing secretariat support for an All Party Parliamentary Group since 2005; and how many such applications were rejected.

John Thurso: The latest published Register of All-Party Groups, dated 1 February 2013, is at:
	http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmallparty/register/contents.htm
	It contains in Part 3 a list of those who held APG security passes, together with any external employment for which these passholders received £329 or more in a calendar year, but it does not name any employer they might have within Parliament. Security passes for these staff are sponsored by the chair of the relevant Group at the time when the pass was issued. A full list of Groups and their chairs is in the current Register. I have also arranged for an updated list of APG passholders to be placed in the Library.
	The issuing of passes to APGs was most recently examined in the Speakers' Working Group on All-Party groups: Report to the Speaker and Lord Speaker, published on 11 June 2012:
	http://intranet.parliament.uk/Documents/intranet/news-current-issues/Speakers-Working-Group-on-APGs-report.pdf
	see Section 5: Passes and Security.
	A paper on the 2009 Review of Passes was presented to the Administration Committee by the Serjeant at Arms in February 2009. We have had no representations on applications.
	111 applications have been received for parliamentary passes for the purpose of providing secretariat support for an All-Party Group since 2009 (the year such passes were introduced). One application was rejected as the APG in question had been dissolved.

WALES

Departmental Responsibilities

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what his Department's core statutory obligations are; and what estimate he has of the annual cost of delivering each such obligation.

Stephen Crabb: The Secretary of State for Wales exercises statutory obligations in three areas. First, he must propose a day for the holding of a poll at an extraordinary general election to the National Assembly for Wales if the Assembly resolves it should be dissolved and at least two-thirds of the total number of Assembly members vote in favour.
	Second, the Secretary of State must consult the Assembly about the Government's legislative programme as soon as is reasonably practicable after the beginning of each session of Parliament. Third, the Secretary of State has a number of obligations in relation to the Welsh Consolidated Fund, including making payments into the Fund out of money provided by Parliament.
	No estimate of the annual cost of delivering each of these obligations has been made and any such estimate could only be made at disproportionate cost.
	The Secretary of State for Wales also has a wide range of statutory powers, which he may exercise at his discretion.

Official Cars

Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales 
	(1)  what the total cost has been of his ministerial car since 4 September 2012;
	(2)  how many journeys he has undertaken in a ministerial car since 4 September 2012;
	(3)  what the total mileage is of all journeys he has undertaken in a ministerial car since 4 September 2012;
	(4)  how many journeys of under a mile in distance he has undertaken in a ministerial car since 4 September 2012.

David Jones: The Wales Office reduced its ministerial car fleet from three to one after the general election at a saving to the taxpayer of £66,000.
	The sole ministerial car costs £80,764 a year and is spread evenly across the financial year and paid on a monthly basis.
	Information relating to departmental spend on the Government Car Service is published annually in a written ministerial statement.
	The Department does not keep records of the number of journeys made or distances covered.

Regulation

Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many and which regulations his Department repealed between 1 June 2012 and 31 January 2013; and what estimate he has made of the savings that will accrue to those affected by each such regulation as a result of its repeal.

David Jones: None.

River Severn: Tidal Power

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what assessment he has made of the potential benefits to Wales of the Severn tidal barrage and accompanying transport links.

David Jones: The Severn Tidal Power Feasibility Study, published in 2010, assessed the potential benefits to Wales of the Severn tidal barrage and accompanying transport links and concluded that there is currently no strategic case for public investment in a Severn tidal scheme.
	The Government welcome well-developed proposals for all types of tidal generation projects (barrages, lagoons etc) in the bays and estuaries around our coasts; however, the case for any potential investment must be balanced against an assessment of wider impacts, particularly environmental and social impacts as well as the value for money of such projects to the consumers.

Staff

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many staff were employed by his Department in each of the last five years; and at what grade or pay band such staff were appointed.

Stephen Crabb: The following table shows the number of staff in post within the Wales Office and their grades at the end of each of the past five financial years.
	
		
			 Date AA AO EO HEO SEO G7 G6 SCSI SCS2 Total 
			 2012 3 7 12 13 6 10 6 3 1 61 
			 2011 4 4 15 10 6 9 4 3 1 56 
			 2010 5 6 14 11 9 7 3 4 1 60 
			 2009 2 8 17 13 10 7 3 3 1 64 
			 2008 2 10 16 9 9 5 5 0 1 57 
			 Key: AA (Administrative Assistant) AO (Administrative Officer) EO (Executive Officer) HEO (Higher Executive Officer) SEO (Senior Executive Officer) G7 (Grade 7) G6 (Grade 6) SCS 1 (Senior Civil Servant Payband 1) SCS 2 (Senior Civil Servant Payband 2)

Travel

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much his Department spent on (a) the Government Car Service and (b) other taxi or car services for ministerial travel in each year since 2009-10; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Crabb: Information relating to departmental spend on the Government Car Service is published in the annual written ministerial statement. The costs for the Wales Office for using the Government Car Service is:
	
		
			  £ 
			 2009/10 150,504.20 
			 2010/11 113,691.38 
			 2011/12 84,447.12 
		
	
	Details of the costs for 2012-13 will be published in the normal way later this year.
	The cost of taxis and other car services for ministerial travel, including some travel by Wales Office staff, was £4,683 in 2009-10, £4,157 in 2010-11 and £30,366 in 2011-12.
	The Wales Office reduced the number of Government cars in 2010-11 from three to one and now uses other car services whilst on visits in Wales.

TREASURY

Child Trust Fund

Frank Doran: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will take steps to ensure wider understanding of the availability of suitable savings options after the maturation of a child trust fund account.

Sajid Javid: holding answer 7 February 2013
	The first child trust funds (CTF) will not mature until 2020 when the oldest account holders become 18 years old. In good time before then, the Government will consider options to ensure that CTF account holders are not disadvantaged in comparison with Junior ISA holders on account maturity.
	In the interim, children with child trust fund accounts may wish to use the Money Advice Service (MAS) to help gain an understanding of financial systems and the range of saving options available. MAS offers free and impartial information and advice on money matters and is readily available online, face-to-face, or by telephone.

Diesel Fuel

Andrew Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent steps his Department has taken to ensure that traffic commissioners are notified promptly of the unlawful use of red diesel in the road haulage industry.

Sajid Javid: An Information Sharing Protocol was set up between HM Revenue and Customs, the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency and the Traffic Commissioners in March 2011. This sets out the arrangements for the disclosure of information by HMRC about certain road hauliers who have evaded excise duty (including the illegal use of red diesel).
	The protocol has recently been reviewed in order to increase the flow of information being exchanged. An amended Memorandum of Understanding came into effect on 1 February 2013.

Energy: Industry

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to protect the long-term competitiveness of the UK's energy-intensive industries beyond 2015.

Sajid Javid: The Government have developed an industrial strategy, which will include publishing sector strategies which will set out long-term actions for Government and industry, tackling barriers to growth in key sectors such as automotive, aerospace, nuclear, oil and gas and offshore wind. The Plan for Growth set out the Government's economic policy objective:
	‘to achieve strong and sustainable growth [...] evenly balanced across the country and between industries.’
	Further, to maintain the competitiveness of the UK as a place to do business, the Government recently announced their intention to exempt Energy Intensive Industries from the cost of Contracts for Difference under Electricity Market Reform, subject to state aid clearance and further consultation.

Excise Duties: Beer

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to bring forward proposals to provide a long-term solution to the problem of beer duty fraud.

Sajid Javid: The Government expect to publish a summary of responses to their consultation on new alcohol anti-fraud legislation, as well outlining the likely timing of any new measures to be introduced, during the spring.

Excise Duties: Tobacco

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to bring forward proposals to provide a long-term solution to the issue of lost excise duty on tobacco in the UK, which takes account of international obligations including the Illicit Trade Protocol of the World Health Organisation's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

Sajid Javid: The Government are fully committed to tackling the illicit trade in tobacco and ensuring that smuggling does not undermine the health and revenue benefits of real increases in tobacco duties.
	HM Revenue and Customs and Border Force have an established and effective strategy to tackle illicit trade which has substantially reduced both the cigarette and hand-rolling tobacco illicit markets since the launch of the first Tobacco Strategy in 2000, with the mid-point estimate of the tax gap for cigarettes reducing from 21% to 9% and for hand-rolled tobacco from 61% to 38% by 2010-11.
	Through the 2010 spending review, HMRC has invested a further £25 million to further strengthen the strategy and maintain downward pressure on the illicit market.
	The Government are pleased that agreement on the framework convention on tobacco control protocol on illicit trade has been reached. The Government are now working towards ratification of the protocol in support of the work to tackle the illicit tobacco trade.

Excise Duties: Wines

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to publish figures for the excise duty lost on wine in the UK due to fraud.

Sajid Javid: HM Revenue and Customs does not currently have a measure of the excise duty lost on wine in the UK due to fraud. The Department is researching alternative methodologies to produce a reliable estimate for the wine tax gap and will report its progress in Measuring Tax Gaps 2013.

Revenue and Customs: Telephone Services

Gareth Johnson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the current average call wait time is for calls to HM Revenue and Customs; and what the target is for wait times.

David Gauke: The average call wait time for January 2013 was 2 minutes 23 seconds. This was the time spent by customers waiting to talk to an advisor after they selected an option from the interactive voice recognition message menu (IVR). It excludes time spent listening to IVR messages.
	HMRC does not currently have a specific call wait time target. They are planning to introduce a target of answering 80% of calls within 5 minutes from April 2013. This will include the time spent by customers waiting to talk to an adviser and the time spent listening to IVR messages.

Staff

Priti Patel: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff were employed by his Department in each of the last five years; and at what grade or pay band such staff were appointed.

Sajid Javid: The information requested is available as follows:
	
		
			 Range 2008-09(1) 2009-10(1) 2010-11(1) 2011-12(1) 2012-13(2) 
			 Range B 125 146 126 96 106 
			 Range C 172 175 161 146 140 
			 Range D 429 481 436 456 433 
			 Range E 388 420 390 356 337 
			 Deputy Director 84 93 81 72 69 
			 Director 19 27 20 17 14 
			 Director General 4 7 5 6 5 
			 Permanent Secretary 2 2 2 2 3 
		
	
	
		
			 Commercial specialists 0 0 28 27 28 
			 Total 1,223 1,351 1,249 1,178 1,135 
			 (1) As at 31 March (2) As at 31 December 
		
	
	The table shows the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) staff for core HM Treasury excluding agencies and associated bodies as at 31 March at the end of each financial year, unless otherwise stated. Summary numbers are available in the annual report and accounts for each of the years and available on the HM Treasury website:
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/dep_perf_reports_index.htm

Third Sector

Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if his Department will consider developing strategic relations with third sector organisations.

Sajid Javid: The Treasury engages directly with the third sector primarily in the areas of social finance and, working with HMRC, charity tax. As with all Government Departments HM Treasury is signed up and committed to the principles of the civil society compact, as stated in our most recently published business plan.
	The Office for Civil Society in the Cabinet Office leads on the Government's big society agenda and it has eight voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) strategic partners as follows:
	Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations in partnership with Euclid Network and New Philanthropy Capital;
	National Council of Voluntary Organisations (NCVO)(1);
	National Association for Voluntary and Community Action;
	Locality;
	Community Foundation Network in partnership with Association of Charitable Foundations;
	Institute of Fundraising;
	Social Entrepreneurship Partnership (School for Social Entrepreneurs in partnership with UnLtd, CAN, Plunkett Foundation and Social Firms UK); and
	Social Enterprise UK in partnership with Co-operatives UK.
	(1) Volunteering England is part of NCVO following a merger as of 1 January 2013
	The Office for Civil Society's strategic partners have been selected to represent the sector to Government; support the development and delivery of big society; and to support partners to eventually become independent of Government funding.

Travel

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much his Department spent on (a) the Government Car Service and (b) other taxi or car services for ministerial travel in each year since 2009-10; and if he will make a statement.

Sajid Javid: Information on departmental spend on the Government Car Service is published annually in a written ministerial statement, details of which can be found within the Libraries of both Houses or via the following links.
	2009-10
	http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmhansrd/cm101028/wmstext/101028m0001.htm#10102827000372
	2010-11
	http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201212/cmhansrd/cm120116/wmstext/120116m0001.htm#12011611000194
	2011-12
	http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmhansrd/cm121220/wmstext/121220m0001.htm#12122056000216
	Details of the costs for 2012-13 will be published in the normal way later this year.
	The Ministerial Code, published on 21 May 2010, included changes to the circumstances in which Ministers would be entitled to a car and driver. The number of Ministers with allocated cars and drivers would be kept to a minimum, taking into account security and other considerations. The Treasury currently has one allocated car. While other Ministers would be entitled to use cars from a Ministerial Car Pool as required, all Ministers are encouraged to walk or use public transport wherever practicable.
	Ministerial spending on other taxi or car services is not available within disproportionate costs threshold.

VAT: Sixth Form Colleges

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  whether he has received advice from his officials on sixth form colleges paying full-rate VAT; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what advice he has received from his officials regarding sixth form colleges paying the full-rate of VAT; and if he will make a statement.

David Gauke: Sixth form colleges are required to pay VAT on their purchases, as are all public sector bodies. The basic funding principle for sixth form colleges is that these VAT costs are taken into account as part of the up-front funding allocation.

Welfare Tax Credits: Appeals

Andrew Stunell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many tax credit appeals have been (a) lodged and (b) determined in each of the last 12 months for which figures are available; and what the average time was between the lodging and the determination of appeals in each month.

Sajid Javid: The following table sets out the number of appeals against tax credit decisions, the number of appeals cleared and the average number of days it has taken to clear those appeals in each of the last 12 months.
	
		
			  New appeals registered Appeals cleared Average days to clear 
			 January 2012 2,058 2,625 116 
			 February 2012 2,679 2,302 138 
			 March 2012 3,296 2,575 134 
			 April 2012 3,454 1,898 141 
			 May 2012 2,898 1,846 143 
			 June 2012 2,258 1,615 155 
			 July 2012 2,577 2,235 184 
		
	
	
		
			 August 2012 3,779 1,472 206 
			 September 2012 3,855 1,874 191 
			 October 2012 4,084 2,537 221 
			 November 2012 4,003 2,549 196 
			 December 2012 2,587 2,035 201 
		
	
	HMRC endeavours to accurately respond to all tax credit appeals as soon as practically possible. One of HMRC's objectives is to minimise error and fraud. Increased activity to ensure people who are entitled receive the correct tax credits awards has increased the number of appeals from people who have had their entitlement stopped or reduced. In response to the increased number of appeals, HMRC have deployed additional resource to reduce customer waiting times to acceptable levels.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Departmental Responsibilities

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what her Department's core statutory obligations are; and what estimate she has made of the annual cost of delivering each such obligation.

Michael Penning: My Department's core statutory functions and associated annual expenditure are outlined in the Northern Ireland Office Annual Report and Accounts, which were laid in Parliament on 13 September 2012.

Staff

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many staff were employed by her Department in each of the last five years; and at what grade or pay band such staff were appointed.

Michael Penning: Comparable figures for my Department as it is now configured are not available following the completion of the devolution of policing and justice functions on 12 April 2010.
	The following tables provide a breakdown, by grade, of the staff employed by my Department at March 2011, March 2012 and December 2012 (the latest period for which figures are available).
	
		
			 March 2011 Number 
			 AO/AA 31 
			 EO 24 
			 SEO/HEO 27 
			 6/7 17 
			 SCS 10 
			 Total 109 
		
	
	
		
			 March 2012 Number 
			 AO/AA 17 
			 EO 21 
			 SEO/HEO 29 
		
	
	
		
			 6/7 14 
			 SCS 6 
			 Total 87 
		
	
	
		
			 December 2012 Number 
			 AO/AA 17 
			 EO 22 
			 SEO/HEO 33 
			 6/7 13 
			 SCS 5 
			 Total 90

Travel

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much her Department spent on (a) the Government Car Service and (b) other taxi or car services for ministerial travel in each year since 2009-10; and if she will make a statement.

Michael Penning: Comparable figures for the Department as it is now configured are not available following the completion of the devolution of policing and justice functions on 12 April 2010.
	My Department has a contract with the Government Car Service for the supply of a departmental car. A new contract was entered into in 2012-13. The total costs of this contract for the years in question are set out in the following tables. The Department does not hold separate records for use of the service by Ministers.
	
		
			 £ 
			  2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 
			 (a) Government Car Service costs 67,401 34,289 (1)53,328 
			 (b) Other taxi or car services for ministerial travel 285.00 415.00 240.00 
			 (1) To date

HEALTH

Cardiovascular System

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what steps his Department is taking to increase emphasis on the prevention and earlier diagnosis of cardiovascular disease;
	(2)  what steps he is taking to provide better long-term care and support for people living with heart disease;
	(3)  how he will ensure that the new strategic clinical network for cardiovascular disease will build on existing expertise amongst local and regional networks and that the opportunities from taking a cross-cardiovascular approach are not at the expense of cardiac specific expertise.

Anna Soubry: A cardiovascular disease (CVD) outcomes strategy is currently being developed. This will look at ways to improve prevention, early diagnosis and longer term care, within the context of the Public Health and NHS Outcomes Frameworks and the mandate from the Government to the NHS Commissioning Board for 2013-15. The aim is to publish this outcomes strategy by the end of March 2013.
	CVD is one of areas chosen for the first Strategic Clinical Networks. The careful management of the transition from existing clinical networks is a key priority for each of the 12 newly appointed lead managers for strategic clinical networks and their network and senate support teams. Many of the support team members have previously worked in local clinical networks. They will be able to build on existing good practice and local relationships with commissioners, providers and other key stakeholders and be well placed to help implement the CVD outcomes strategy.

Departmental Responsibilities

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his Department's core statutory obligations are; and what estimate he has made of the annual cost of delivering each such obligation.

Daniel Poulter: The Department is responsible for exercising those statutory obligations of the Secretary of State which are entrusted to the Secretary of State for Health—in particular, obligations in relation to health, including the national health service, and social care. Those obligations are a matter of public record. As a Government Department and public authority, the Department has other statutory obligations, which are again matters of public record.
	Details of the Department's expenditure are laid before Parliament each year in the annual report and accounts. All such expenditure is carried out in pursuit of the Department's statutory functions. The most recent version is available at:
	https://www.wp.dh.gov.uk/publications/files/2012/10/23735_HC-66-DoH.pdf
	The Department also publishes an annual business plan, which sets out the programme of work that is planned to support the Government's objectives, and is available at:
	http://transparency.dh.gov.uk/2012/05/31/department-of-health-business-plan/

Dietary Supplements: EU Law

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  if Ministers in his Department will meet representatives of Consumers for Health Choice to discuss the potential effects of EU legislation on consumer choice in food supplements and other natural health products;
	(2)  what steps he plans to take to ensure consumer access to a wide range of safe and popular food supplements in the setting of maximum permitted levels for vitamins and minerals under the provisions of Article 5 of the Food Supplements Directive;
	(3)  what consideration he has given to working for the repeal of Article 5 of the Food Supplements Directive; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry: There are no current plans for Ministers to meet with representatives of Consumers for Health Choice to discuss the potential effects of EU legislation on consumer choice in food supplements and other natural health products.
	The United Kingdom will negotiate for any future proposals for vitamins and minerals in food supplements to be based on science and safety, to allow for the highest safe maximum levels.
	There are no current plans to consider working for the repeal of Article 5 of the Food Supplements Directive.

Eyesight: Testing

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the difference between the NHS sight test fee and the charges made by providers of private eye tests.

Daniel Poulter: The sight test fee is negotiated with representatives of the profession. The Department's policy is to agree a fair rate for the task, taking account of recruitment, retention and motivation. Private sight test fees are a matter for individual optical businesses to set.

Health Services: Youth Custody

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what actions (a) his Department and (b) the NHS Commissioning Board are taking to ensure the provision of high quality health and public health services for young people in young offender institutions, secure training centres and secure children's homes.

Norman Lamb: The NHS Commissioning Board (NHS CB) will assume commissioning responsibility for health services for those in custody and other forms of prescribed detention from 1 April 2013, including for people aged under 18 years.
	Through the mandate for the NHS CB, published in November 2012, the Department has worked with the NHS CB to specify that national health service and public sector partners need to work together to achieve their objectives. This includes developing better healthcare services for young offenders in young offender institutions, secure training centres and secure children's homes.
	The Department published “Public Health Functions to be Exercised by the NHS Commissioning Board” in November 2012. A copy has been placed in the Library.
	The NHS CB will set out the operating model through which it will secure the best possible health outcomes for prisoners, detainees, children and young people in secure settings in its publication Securing Excellence in Commissioning Offender Health. This is expected to be published shortly.

Heart Diseases: Children

Meg Munn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  if he will publish the self-assessment evaluations prepared by paediatric cardiac centres as part of the Independent Expert Panel's assessment of centres for the Safe and Sustainable Review;
	(2)  if he will direct the National Specialised Commissioning Team to publish the names of the members of Professor Sir Ian Kennedy's assessment panel alongside the scores they awarded to each children's heart surgery centre for every standard assessed as part of the Safe and Sustainable Review.

Anna Soubry: The Safe and Sustainable review of children's congenital heart services was an NHS review, independent of Government. The publication of the Independent Expert Panel's scores is a matter for the Joint Committee of Primary Care Trusts.
	In these circumstances, and given legal proceedings and a review by the Independent Reconfiguration Panel are under way, it would not be right to comment further.

Hospitals: Food

Andy Burnham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to ensure that horsemeat is not served to patients in NHS hospitals.

Anna Soubry: The Department has written to the national health service, via the NHS Supply Chain and through the cluster SHA Chief Executives, to remind them that although there is no reason to believe that any processed beef products currently on sale are unsafe, they are responsible for their food contracts and are expected to ensure they have rigorous procurement procedures in place with reputable suppliers, including suitable checking regimes on the authenticity of food.
	Across the NHS, around 60% of fresh meat and poultry, and 40% of ready meals are sourced through NHS Supply Chain. They are co-ordinating the collection of information from any health care organisation in England whose supplier informs them that beef product contains horsemeat.
	A copy of the letter has been placed in the Library.
	The Food Standards Agency has also issued guidance to public institutions on meat products, which is available at the following link. They are monitoring the situation and will issue further advice as necessary.
	www.food.gov.uk/news-updates/news/2013/feb/advice
	The sourcing and provision of NHS food and catering is determined locally. Different organisations will have different local circumstances and it is for those organisations to satisfy themselves that the food they supply meets proper standards and the needs of their patients. Any investigations into the provenance of supplies would be done locally.

Hyperkinetic Syndrome

Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department has commissioned on the causes of hyperkinetic syndrome.

Daniel Poulter: The Department has not commissioned research specifically on the causes of hyperkinetic syndrome. The Department's National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) funds a wide range of research relating to the causes, diagnosis and treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, including research at three NIHR biomedical research centres.

King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Tessa Jowell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the (a) increased number of births and (b) associated costs expected at King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust following the changes he has proposed to South London Healthcare NHS Trust.

Anna Soubry: The Secretary of State for Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt), has accepted the Trust Special Administrator's (TSA) broad recommendations.
	Appendix E of the TSA's final report outlines the forecast births in south east London over the next three years and the methodology used to determine this. It outlines that the forecast births at King's College Hospital (KCH) in 2015-16 would be 5,691 if there were no changes and 7,308 if the TSA's proposals were implemented. This is an increase of 1,617 (28%) in 2015-16.
	The Secretary of State confirmed in his oral statement of 31 January 2013, Official Report, columns 1072-75, that the TSA had built into his analysis the provision of £36 million of capital investment for maternity services to increase capacity at KCH, Princess Royal Hospital, Queen Elizabeth Hospital and St Thomas' Hospital. This includes the development of a midwifery-led birthing unit at KCH. This investment would run from 2013-14 to 2015-16. Final decisions on funding will be worked through as part of the implementation planning process, in collaboration with the Department to ensure value for money for the taxpayer.

King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Tessa Jowell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of cancelled operations at King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust following the proposed changes to Lewisham's accident and emergency and obstetric services.

Anna Soubry: The Secretary of State for Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt), has accepted the Trust Special Administrator's (TSA) broad recommendations, including the three year implementation plan set out in his final report.
	No specific estimate of the number of cancelled operations at King's College Hospital (KCH) was made in the TSA's report as it is not expected to be significantly impacted by the recommendations.
	Acute capacity requirements are considered in the TSA's report and investment planned at all south east London hospitals to ensure that the capacity is available in the right place and that quality and safety of care are maintained, including that there is no increase in cancelled operations for non-clinical reasons.
	The development of an elective centre at University Hospital Lewisham to serve the people of south east London could also support a reduction in cancellations of planned operations across south east London, facilitated by the separation of planned and emergency services.

Members: Correspondence

Tessa Jowell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he intends to answer the letter of 12 December 2012 sent to him by the right hon. Member for Dulwich and West Norwood, the right hon. Member for Camberwell and Peckham, the right hon. Member for Bermondsey and Old Southwark, the hon. Member for Streatham and the hon. Member for Vauxhall on the subject of King's Health Partners.

Anna Soubry: A reply to the letter of 12 December was considered to have been overtaken by the meeting the Secretary of State for Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt), held with hon. Members on 14 January, where there was an opportunity to raise concerns set out in the letter.
	In the letter of 12 December, the hon. and right hon. Members were particularly concerned that the proposals for a merger by King's Health Partners (KHP) should be delayed until the impact of the recommendations by the Trust Special Administrator (TSA) at South London Healthcare NHS Trust was fully known.
	Prior to the publication of the final report by the TSA, KHP were clear that they would await the outcome of the TSA process before moving forward with their proposals.

Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations (a) he and (b) his Department have received for a full public enquiry to be held into events at Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust prior to May 2010.

Daniel Poulter: On 9 June 2010, the previous Secretary of State, my right hon. Friend the Member for South Cambridgeshire (Mr Lansley), announced a public inquiry into the operation of commissioning, supervisory and regulatory bodies in relation to their monitoring role at Stafford hospital with the objective of learning lessons about how failing hospitals are identified.
	A search of the Department's ministerial correspondence database has identified 81 items of correspondence received between 1 January 2009 and 1 May 2010 which call for a full public inquiry to be held into events at Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust. This figure represents correspondence received by the Department's ministerial correspondence unit only. These comprise 20 hon. Members, 36 members of the public and 25 organisations.

NHS: Staff

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 23 January 2013, Official Report, column 360W, on NHS: staff, which bodies hold the requested information.

Daniel Poulter: The Organisation Data Service (ODS) maintains the most up to date and accurate register of the bodies who hold the information you requested on 23 January 2013.
	Inquiries to ODS should be addressed to:
	Help Desk
	Organisation Data Service
	NHS Connecting for Health
	Hexagon House
	Pynes Hill
	Rydon Lane
	Exeter
	Devon EX2 5SE
	exeter.helpdesk@nhs.net
	Tel: 01392 251289
	Fax: 01392 687085

NHS: Translation Services

Heidi Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent by the NHS (a) on all translation services and (b) on preparing multi-lingual documentation in 2011-12.

Norman Lamb: We do not hold this information centrally. National health service organisations have a duty to follow equalities legislation. This includes making sure their communities can understand information about services and that patients and clinicians can communicate with each other. However, we would encourage trusts to be efficient and save money where possible by working together and sharing resources.

Out of Area Treatment: Scotland

Gregg McClymont: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients were referred to NHS facilities in England by NHS Scotland in each of the last five years.

Anna Soubry: Information is not held on the number of patient referrals by NHS Scotland to national health service facilities in England.
	The following tables show the number of finished admission episodes (in-patients), out-patient attendances (out-patient) and accident and emergency (A&E) attendances for patients identified as resident in Scotland between the dates requested.
	
		
			 Hospital activity(1) for patients resident in Scotland(2) and treated in English hospitals for 2007-08 to 2011-12(3): Activity in English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector 
			  In-patient finished admission episodes (FAEs) Out-patient attendances A&E attendances 
			  FAEs for Scotland residents Total FAEs Attendances for Scotland residents Total attendances Attendances for Scotland residents Total attendances 
			 2007-08 7,371 13,479,828 15,434 54,415,758 14,205 12,318,051 
			 2008-09 7,326 14,152,692 16,511 60,607,226 15,367 13,794,072 
			 2009-10 7,671 14,537,712 16,610 67,414,037 16,804 15,569,736 
			 2010-11 7,811 14,890,844 17,286 70,265,964 17,423 16,244,934 
		
	
	
		
			 2011-12 7,574 15,019,396 16,835 72,620,492 19,145 17,619,708 
			 (1) Hospital Activity In-patient Finished Admission Episode A finished admission episode (FAE) is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one health care provider. FAEs are counted against the year in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year. Out-patient Attendance A count of out-patient appointments where the patient is recorded as having attended, whether a first or subsequent appointment. A&E Attendance The number of attendances, whether planned or unplanned. (2) Scotland residents Residents of Scotland have been identified using the strategic health authority (SHA) of residence of “Scotland”. A change in methodology in 2011-12 resulted in an increase in the number of records where the SHA of residence was unknown. From 2006-07 to 2010-11 the current SHA of residence fields were populated from the recorded patient postcode. In order to improve data completeness, if the postcode was unknown the SHA and country of residence were populated from the SHA value supplied by the provider. From April 2011-12 onwards if the patient postcode is unknown the SHA and country of residence are listed as unknown. (3 )Assessing growth through time In-patients HES figures are available from 1989-90 onwards. Changes to the figures over time need to be interpreted in the context of improvements in data quality and coverage (particularly in earlier years), improvements in coverage of independent sector activity (particularly from 2006-07) and changes in NHS practice. For example, changes in activity may be due to changes in the provision of care. Out-patients HES figures are available from 2003-04 onwards. Changes to the figures over time need to be interpreted in the context of improvements in data quality and coverage (particularly in earlier years), improvements in coverage of independent sector activity (particularly from 2006-07) and changes in NHS practice. For example, changes in activity may be due to changes in the provision of care. Accident and Emergency HES figures are available from 2007-08 onwards. Changes to the figures over time need to be interpreted in the context of improvements in data quality and coverage and changes in NHS practice. For example, changes in activity may be due to changes in the provision of care. Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre

South London Healthcare NHS Trust

Tessa Jowell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the oral statement of 31 January 2013, Official Report, column 1074, on South London Healthcare NHS Trust, to which sites he was referring in his statement that accessing consultant-led maternity services would involve an increase in journey times on average of two or three minutes by private or public transport.

Anna Soubry: The Secretary of State for Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt), has accepted the Trust Special Administrator's (TSA) broad recommendations.
	The analysis of the impact of the TSA's recommendations on travel times was carried out using Transport for London's Health Service Travel Analysis Tool. It also factored in feedback from clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) on their populations' preference, as in some cases CCGs indicated that patients choose to travel further to attend a specific hospital rather than attending their local hospital.
	The analysis on travel times was undertaken both for the whole population of south-east London and of Lewisham. This is shown in figures 39 and 41 respectively under chapter 5 of the TSA's final report. In both cases, the assessment generally considers the impact of travelling to the next closest appropriate service at King's College Hospital, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Princess Royal Hospital or St Thomas' Hospital.

South London Healthcare NHS Trust

Tessa Jowell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the oral statement of 31 January 2013, Official Report, column 1075, on South London Healthcare NHS Trust, on what clinical evidence Sir Bruce Keogh's statement that the changes proposed to South London Healthcare NHS Trust could save up to 100 lives every year was based.

Anna Soubry: The figure on reduced mortality used in the Trust Special Administrator's report was derived from work undertaken by the London Health Programmes and NHS London, considering excess mortality across the capital at weekends.
	This work drew upon national work. The data and methodology had academic endorsement and was agreed by the London Health Programmes' Quality and Safety Clinical Board and the London Clinical Senate.
	As a result of this work, a set of London Quality Standards has been agreed by the Clinical Senate to improve outcomes for patients admitted at weekends. These include ensuring greater access to consultant staff and diagnostics at weekends, in line with the drive across the NHS to achieve 24-hour, seven-day working. In order to achieve these standards it will be necessary in some circumstances to further centralise care.

Staff

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many staff were employed by his Department in each of the last five years; and at what grade or pay band such staff were appointed.

Daniel Poulter: The numbers of civil servants joining the Department in each of last five years are given in the following table.
	
		
			  2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 
			  Perm Temp Perm Temp Perm Temp Perm Temp Perm Temp 
			 Administrative Officer 3 0 8 0 13 0 7 2 3 4 
			 Executive Officer 20 0 33 0 26 1 22 3 1 7 
			 Higher Executive Officer 13 0 26 2 25 1 18 1 10 4 
			 Senior Executive Officer 16 0 31 1 49 0 19 1 5 7 
			 Fast Streamers 9 0 18 0 15 0 15 0 19 0 
			 Grade 7 25 0 23 0 48 1 9 3 8 8 
			 Grade 6 9 0 12 0 20 1 8 2 1 7 
			 Senior Civil Servants 6 0 11 0 8 0 3 0 5 1 
			 Total 101 0 162 3 204 4 101 12 52 38 
			 Note: Temporary civil servants are those who joined on a fixed term appointment or on loan from another Government Department.

Travel

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department spent on (a) the Government car Service and (b) other taxi or car services for ministerial travel in each year since 2009-10; and if he will make a statement.

Daniel Poulter: Information on Departmental spend on Government cars is published in the annual written ministerial statement, which has already been placed in the Library.
	2009-10
	www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmhansrd/cm101028/wmstext/101028m0001.htm#10102827000372
	2010-11
	www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201212/cmhansrd/cm120116/wmstext/120116m0001.htm#12011611000194
	2011-12
	www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmhansrd/cm121220/wmstext/121220m0001.htm#12122056000216
	Details of the costs for 2012-13 will be published later this year.
	Information on taxi and car service spend other than the Government Car Service could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Whittington Hospital NHS Trust

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions his Department has had with the Whittington Hospital on (a) its future status and (b) the financial requirements necessary for it to achieve trust status.

Anna Soubry: The Department has had no discussions with Whittington Hospital NHS Trust about its future. The trust is currently developing its application to become a foundation trust. Approval of the trust's application is the responsibility of the NHS Trust Development Authority (TDA) prior to being passed to Monitor for its consideration. Both the TDA and Monitor require assurance against a wide range of criteria, including the financial viability of the trust, before it achieves foundation trust status.

Whittington Hospital NHS Trust

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what disposal of (a) land and (b) buildings held by (i) freehold and (ii) leasehold has taken place at the Whittington hospital sites in each of the last 10 years.

Daniel Poulter: The information requested is not centrally held. This is a matter for the local NHS. The hon. Member may wish to contact the Whittington Hospital NHS Trust for further information.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Common Fisheries Policy

Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether he has had any recent discussions with the President of the European Parliament on the regionalisation of fisheries management; and if he will make a statement.

Richard Benyon: holding answer 12 February 2013
	As UK Fisheries Minister, I continue to have discussions on our key priorities for fundamental reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), including the regionalisation of fisheries management, with a wide range of people and organisations. This includes Members of the European Parliament, who will play a significant role in agreeing the reforms we are seeking, although this has not, to date, involved direct discussion with the President.
	I will continue to press the case for genuine reform and decentralisation of the CFP as negotiations between the Council and European Parliament progress during 2013.

Food Banks

Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if his Department intends to collect data on (a) the number of food banks in operation and (b) the number of people who use food banks.

David Heath: The provision of food aid ranges from small, local provision, through to regional and national schemes. But the landscape is mostly community-led provision responding to local needs. It is not clear what purpose would be served by keeping a record of the number of food banks, nor the potential number of people using them or other types of food aid, without placing unnecessary and costly burdens on volunteers trying to help their communities.

Food: Labelling

Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions he has had with the Food Standards Agency (UK) and Food Standards Agency Ireland on food labelling and provenance policy issues; and if he will make a statement.

David Heath: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) and DEFRA meet regularly to discuss issues related to food labelling and provenance, to exchange information and co-ordinate our work on common areas of interest. DEFRA and the FSA have had daily contact at a high level since 14 January to discuss the specific issue of horse and pig DNA found in meat products. I met with the chair and chief executive of FSA on 29 January and again with the chief executive on 4 February.
	The FSA has a memorandum of understanding on how it collaborates on the handling of food incidents with authorities in Ireland. All parties agree others will be notified at the earliest opportunity about any food incident or potential food incident, which may affect any of the jurisdictions and where there may be risk or potential risk to consumers.
	As part of these arrangements, on 23 November, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) told the FSA that it was developing authenticity methods and considering a survey, with which the FSA offered assistance. On 10 January, the FSAI then advised the FSA that it was undertaking some authenticity checks on meat products and that it would keep the FSA informed of the results. On 14 January, the FSAI told the FSA that it had found contamination and that Tesco, Iceland and Lidl products were implicated. On 15 January the FSAI published the results of the survey on its website and we were then able to access these results.

Scallops

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much of UK Western Waters' scallop effort declared to the EC in December 2012 was for activity that took place in (a) December, (b) November, (c) October, (d) September, (e) August and (f) January to July 2012.

Richard Benyon: A breakdown of scallop effort reported to the Commission is detailed in the following tables. This includes details on effort uptake as a percentage of the final effort reported and against the total effort available to the UK in 2012. The tables are split by International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) area as the UK has different effort allocations for ICES areas V-VI and VII.
	
		
			 UK scallop effort uptake ICES areas V-VI 
			 Total UK effort allocation 2012: 1,974,425 kW days 
			  Uptake(1) Percentage of total uptake(2) Percentage of allocation(3) 
			 January 44,356 4.2 2.2 
			 February 66,358 6.3 3.4 
			 March 72,104 6.8 3.7 
			 April 74,089 7.0 3.8 
			 May 88,297 8.3 4.5 
			 June 115,170 10.9 5.8 
			 July 124,528 11.7 6.3 
			 August 147,050 13.9 7.4 
			 September 90,792 8.6 4.6 
			 October 138,395 13.0 7.0 
			 November 64,538 6.1 3.3 
			 December 35,186 3.3 1.8 
			 Total 1,060,865 100.0 53.7 
			 (1) Effort uptake by UK vessels in 2012, split by month. (2) Breakdown of the total effort fished as a percentage of the final effort uptake 2012 (1,060,865 kW days). (3) Breakdown of effort fished as a percentage of the UK effort allocation 2012 (1,974,425 kW days). 
		
	
	
		
			 UK scallop effort uptake ICES area VII 
			 Total UK effort allocation 2012: 3,550,619 kW days 
			  Uptake(1) Percentage of total uptake(2) Percentage of allocation(3) 
			 January 378,290 10.7 10.7 
			 February 410,994 11.7 11.6 
			 March 421,887 12.0 11.9 
			 April 213,966 6.1 6.0 
			 May 434,933 12.3 12.2 
			 June 267,284 7.6 7.5 
			 July 227,215 6.4 6.4 
			 August 179,824 5.1 5.1 
			 September 293,275 8.3 8.3 
			 October 253,322 7.2 7.1 
			 November 300,283 8.5 8.5 
			 December 141,858 4.0 4.0 
			 Total 3,523,130 100.0 99.2 
			 (1) Effort uptake by UK vessels in 2012, split by month. (2) Breakdown of the total effort fished as a percentage of the final effort uptake 2012 (3,523,130 kW days). (3) Breakdown of effort fished as a percentage-of the UK effort allocation 2012 (3,550,619 kW days).

Wildlife

Mark Tami: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate his Department has made of the numbers of (a) grass snakes and (b) slow worms in the UK in each of the last five years.

Richard Benyon: We have no current estimate of the numbers of grass snakes and slow worms in the UK. The National Amphibian and Reptile Recording Scheme is developing the National Reptile Survey which aims to assess the conservation status of the widespread species of reptile native to the UK and includes the slow worm and grass snake.

SCOTLAND

Unemployment

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent assessment he has made of the effect of long-term unemployment in Scotland.

Michael Moore: Against a difficult economic backdrop, the Government are doing what they can to reduce unemployment by laying the foundations for a stronger, more balanced economy. In Scotland, 71,000 jobs have been created since September 2010.

Referendum

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what consideration his Department has given to the recommendations of the Electoral Commission’s report on the Scottish referendum.

Michael Moore: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave earlier today to the hon. Member for Na h-Eileanan an Iar (Mr MacNeil).

Departmental Responsibilities

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what his Department's core statutory obligations are; and what estimate he has made of the annual cost of delivering each such obligation.

David Mundell: Information about the Scotland Office's core statutory obligations and the annual cost of delivering them is given in the Scotland Office and Office of the Advocate General's Annual Report for 2011-12, published at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/annual-report-2011-12-for-the-scotland-office-and-the-office-of-the-advocate-general

Procurement

Angus MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish details of the only contract awarded by the Scotland Office between July 2010 and November 2012.

David Mundell: The only contract awarded by the Scotland Office between July 2010 and November 2012 was issued to the Royal Mail. The Scottish Parliament (Elections etc) Order 2010, article 61, entitles certain candidates and nominating officers to send election communications free of any charge of postage, subject to compliance with that article. Article 62 of the Order entitles a universal service provider to be remunerated for having provided postal services at a rate fixed in relation to them by virtue of a scheme under the Postal Services Act, s 89. The contract between the Scotland Office and the Royal Mail gave effect to those provisions of the Order.

Regulation

Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what regulations his Department repealed between 1 June 2012 and 31 January 2013; and what estimate he has made of the likely level of savings to (a) the Government, (b) business and (c) the general public.

David Mundell: Each year, the Scotland Office takes forward a programme of Orders under the Scotland Act 1998. None of the Orders which came in to force between 1 June 2012 and 31 January 2013 repealed any regulations.

Staff

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many staff were employed by his Department in each of the last five years; and at what grade or pay band such staff were appointed.

David Mundell: The Scotland Office does not employ staff directly. All staff that join the Office do so on an assignment, secondment or loan agreement from other Government bodies but principally from the Scottish Government or the Ministry of Justice. However, the number of staff working in the Scotland Office can be found in the Office's Annual Reports, copies of which are held in the House Library.

Travel

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much his Department spent on (a) the Government Car Service and (b) other taxi or car services for ministerial travel in each year since 2009-10; and if he will make a statement.

David Mundell: Information on departmental spend on the Government Car Service since 2009-10 is published in the annual written ministerial statement, details of which can be found within the Libraries of both Houses. Details of the costs for 2012-13 will be published in the normal way later this year. The Scotland Office contract with Government Car Service was terminated in January 2011.
	The Scotland Office spend on other taxi or car services for ministerial travel are listed in the following table.
	
		
			 Financial year Cost (£) 
			 2009-10 42,891 
			 2010-11 41,634 
			 2011-12 37,360 
			 2012-13 (April 2012 to December 2012) 35,693

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Business: Climate Change

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what kinds of company data to assess climate change risks to financial markets will be considered as part of the forthcoming regulatory changes on company narrative reporting by his Department.

Jo Swinson: The Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs has consulted extensively with businesses and investors in both 2011 and 2012 on the new requirements for quoted companies to report their greenhouse gas emissions in their annual report and accounts.
	This is part of the Government's wider work to increase transparency and accountability of our largest companies. It will also help shareholders be active stewards of the companies they own.
	I refer the hon. Member to the written ministerial statement given by the former Secretary of State for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the right hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs Spelman), on 20 June 2012, Official Report, columns 59-60WS, for the full text.

Business: Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether his Department has had discussions with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on introducing an obligation requiring companies to disclose data on the greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel reserves in company annual reports.

Jo Swinson: BIS officials are in regular contact with those in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on a wide range of issues surrounding the introduction of the requirement for quoted companies to report on their greenhouse gas emissions.

Clothing: Fire Prevention

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 28 January 2013, Official Report, columns 597-8W, on clothing: fire prevention, if he will make it his policy to extend regulations on fire-retardant clothing to include all children's clothing.

Jo Swinson: The UK already has the most stringent flammability regime for children's clothing in Europe (along with Ireland) and I have no plans to extend it. Extending the requirements of the Nightwear (Safety) Regulations to children's day wear would make the supply of compliant cotton clothing problematic. Cotton garments would need to be made either from heavy cotton fabrics, e.g. unsuitable for many children's dresses or shirts, or from fighter cotton that has been treated with flame retardant chemicals. This would raise the cost of cotton garments, and if flame retardant chemicals are not applied correctly, materials can become toxic and present a health hazard.

Consumers: Protection

Simon Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills when he plans to publish a response to his Department's consultation on enhancing consumer confidence by clarifying consumer law.

Jo Swinson: The Government will publish our response in spring 2013.

Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

Mike Weatherley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills when his Department decided to undertake further consultation and evidence gathering about the appropriate scope of transitional provisions in respect of the proposed repeal of section 52 of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Jo Swinson: In response to the Regulatory Policy Committee's opinion (dated 14 May 2012) on the Government's Economic Impact Assessment, the Government committed to consulting on how and when to implement the change, once the proposed repeal had been approved by Parliament.

Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

Mike Weatherley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what representations he has received from the Herchel Smith Professor of Intellectual Property at the University of Cambridge on the serious implications of the proposed repeal of section 52 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988; and if he will make a statement.

Jo Swinson: The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, my right hon. Friend the Member for Twickenham (Vince Cable), received a letter from the Herchel Smith Professor of Intellectual Property at Cambridge university on 25 July 2012 regarding the proposed repeal of section 52 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
	There are no plans for the Secretary of State to make a statement on this letter. The Government's position on the repeal of section 52 has been set out in parliamentary debate on the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill.

Counterfeit Manufacturing and Piracy

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many times he has met (a) the Minister for Crime Prevention and (b) the Minister for Policing to discuss counterfeiting and piracy in the last 12 months.

Jo Swinson: The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, my right hon. Friend the Member for Twickenham (Vince Cable), engages with all relevant Ministries, on the topic of counterfeiting and piracy, including the Minister of State, Home Department, my hon. Friend the Member for Taunton Deane (Mr Browne), and the Minister for Policing and Criminal Justice, the right hon. Member for Ashford (Damian Green); although he has not met either Minister in a formal bilateral on this issue in the last 12 months.

Departmental Responsibilities

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what his Department's core statutory obligations are; and what estimate he has of the annual cost of delivering each such obligation.

Jo Swinson: The Department is responsible for a wide range of functions and statutory obligations that support the Government's overall objective of stimulating and supporting economic growth. Full details on the Department's responsibilities and their implementation are set out in the Department's published business plan, available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/business-plan-2012-2015-department-for-business-innovation-and-skills
	Further detail of BIS' responsibilities and the expenditure on delivering them can be found within the annual report and accounts, this is available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/department-for-business-innovation-and-skills-annual-report-and-accounts-2011-12-hc-60

ICT: Education

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department is taking to encourage the teaching of computer coding to adults in the education system.

David Willetts: Government funding is available to support a wide range of vocational STEM subjects, including IT/ICT practitioner qualifications. We have simplified the further education funding system and introduced greater freedoms and flexibilities for further education colleges and providers to put them in a better position to respond to the needs of learners and employers to whom they will be increasingly accountable.
	The Commission for Adult Vocational Teaching and Learning has been tasked with raising the quality, and improving the outcomes and impact, of adult vocational teaching and learning in the further education and skills sector. One of the cross-cutting themes will focus on STEM teaching and learning. Their findings and recommendations are due to be published in spring 2013.

Packaging

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills when research by the Intellectual Property Office into the impact of copycat packaging will be published.

Jo Swinson: The research commissioned by the Intellectual Property Office, "The Impact of Lookalikes: Similar Packaging and Fast-moving Consumer Goods", will be published in the spring.

Post Offices: Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what meetings his Department has had with the National Federation of Sub Postmasters to discuss the effect that (a) the award of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency Front Office Counter Service contract to the Post Office and (b) the implications of the installation of Cogent camera equipment will have on smaller post offices.

Jo Swinson: I meet regularly with representatives of the National Federation of Sub Postmasters to discuss a wide range of issues relating to the post office network. These have included the new contract awarded to Post Office Ltd last November by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency.

Post Offices: Photographs

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  what further plans his Department has to install Cogent equipment in post offices to capture digital photographs for use on driving licences;
	(2)  what steps his Department has taken to ensure that the installation of Cogent digital camera equipment in 752 urban post offices to provide driving licence renewal services does not affect the check and send revenue of smaller, rural post offices.

Jo Swinson: Decisions on the numbers and locations of Cogent digital camera equipment installed in post offices are commercial and operational matters for Post Office Ltd and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). I understand that under the new contract with DVLA the digital photographic service will be available in 753 post office branches replacing the photocard licence check and send service offered in 749 post office branches. These arrangements do not affect the motor vehicle licensing service available in some 4,600 branches or Post Office Ltd's passport check and send service available in around 2,500 branches.

Staff

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many staff were employed by his Department in each of the last five years; and at what grade or pay band such staff were appointed.

Jo Swinson: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) was formed through a machinery of government change in June 2009. The Department was created by merging the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) and the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS). Therefore only data from 2009 has been used. Data includes UKTI.
	The following table shows the number of staff employed by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills broken down by grade from when the information is available.
	
		
			 Grade December 2009 March 2010 March 2011 March 2012 January 2013 
			 AA 29 68 36 20 18 
			 AO 329 321 280 245 208 
			 EO 537 542 457 464 468 
			 HEO 913 917 863 760 774 
			 SEO 410 414 360 377 402 
			 Grade 7 793 783 721 661 732 
			 Grade 6 372 369 345 293 309 
			 SCS 256 249 219 209 218 
			 Unknown(1) 109 — — — — 
			 Total 3,748 3,663 3,281 3,029 3,129 
			 (1) Unknown consists of staff out of the Department (but paid by BIS), some UKTI staff, and a significant number of former DIUS staff who did not have a grade entered onto the system.

Third Sector

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if his Department will consider developing strategic relations with third sector organisations.

Jo Swinson: The Office for Civil Society in Cabinet Office leads on the Government's big society agenda and it has eight VCSE strategic partners.
	The Office for Civil Society's strategic partners have been selected to represent the sector to Government; support the development and delivery of big society; and to support partners to eventually become independent of Government funding.
	The Office for Civil Society in Cabinet Office currently supports eight Strategic partners as follows:
	Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations in partnership with Euclid Network and New Philanthropy Capital;
	National Council of Voluntary Organisations (NCVO)(1);
	National Association for Voluntary and Community Action;
	Locality;
	Community Foundation Network in partnership with Association of Charitable Foundations;
	Institute of Fundraising;
	Social Entrepreneurship Partnership (School for Social Entrepreneurs in partnership with UnLtd, CAN, Plunkett Foundation and Social Firms UK);
	Social Enterprise UK in partnership with Co-operatives UK.
	(1) Volunteering England is part of NCVO following a merger as of 1 January 2013

Travel

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much his Department spent on (a) the Government Car Service and (b) other taxi or car services for ministerial travel in each year since 2009-10; and if he will make a statement.

Jo Swinson: Details of this Department's spend with the Government Car Service (GCS) is published in the annual written ministerial statement, details of which can be found within the Libraries of both Houses:
	
		
			 Date from Date to GCS Spend (£) Taxi and other car spend (£) 
			 1 April 2009 31 March 2010 694,326 20,019 
			 1 April 2010 12 May 2010 63,433 — 
			 13 May 2010 31 March 2011 240,771 7,844 
			 1 April 2011 31 March 2012 74,346 20,061 
		
	
	Details of the GCS costs for 2012-13 will be published in the normal way later this year. Total costs for taxis during 2012-13 will not be available until later this year.
	As set out in the Ministerial Code Ministers must ensure that they always make efficient and cost-effective travel arrangements and all Ministers are encouraged to walk or use public transport wherever practicable.
	During 2010-11 a saving of 56% on the GCS costs for 2009-10 was achieved despite the continuation of contractual requirements for half of the year. Savings continued during 2011-12 resulting in a saving of 89% on the 2009-10 costs.
	BIS has substantially reduced the number of allocated cars that it uses from the Government Car Service, from seven to one when a new car service was introduced mid 2010.

UK Intellectual Property Office

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment has been made of the impact of the lack of pay progression in the Intellectual Property Office on the gender pay gap.

Jo Swinson: The Intellectual Property Office reviews its pay scales, including positions within these, annually as part of its pay remit submission to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

UK Intellectual Property Office

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what consideration he has given to ensuring that staff employed by the Intellectual Property Office have pay progression.

Jo Swinson: As an Executive agency the IPO must comply with civil service pay policy. The Government implemented a pay freeze for all civil servants in 2010. As part of that pay freeze a decision was taken that there would be no pay progression unless there was a contractual right for this to be paid. Careful consideration was given within the agency as to whether there was a contractual right for staff to receive annual salary increments. On the basis of the legal advice received, it was determined there was no legally binding right. It is recognised that staff have been adversely impacted by not receiving paying annual salary increments. But we are experiencing one of the most significant periods of financial restraint across the whole of the civil service at present. The challenges of reducing the national debt cannot be underestimated and civil service pay restraint is one of many measures being pursued. The IPO executive team, within the remit of the civil service pay policy, will continue to do what it can to ensure staff are fairly remunerated.

JUSTICE

Bill of Rights

Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what his policy is on the need for a Bill of Rights.

Damian Green: In March 2011 the Government established an independent Commission to
	“investigate the creation of a UK Bill of Rights that incorporates and builds on all our obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights, ensures that these rights continue to be enshrined in UK law, and protects and extend our liberties.”
	The Commission reported on 18 December 2012 and the Government are giving careful consideration to the Commission's final report, which will help inform Government thinking in this area.

Coroners: Tees Valley

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when the Office for Judicial Complaints will conclude its investigation of Mr Michael Sheffield, Her Majesty's Coroner for Teesside.

Helen Grant: The Office for Judicial Complaints is considering the complaints made against Her Majesty's Coroner for Teesside and will report to me and the Lord Chief Justice once it has completed the prescribed procedures as required by the Judicial Discipline (Prescribed Procedures) Regulations 2006 (as amended).
	As the regulations provide for a number of possible outcomes, including the opportunity for the judicial office holder to request a review of any decision the Lord Chief Justice and I may make, it is not possible to confirm when the matter will be finally concluded.

Crown Prosecution Service: Stoke on Trent

Tristram Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of spending reductions in the Crown Prosecution Service in Stoke-on-Trent.

Oliver Heald: I have been asked to reply.
	During the current spending review period the Crown Prosecution Service's (CPS) funding will decline by at least 6% per year until 2014-15. In broad terms we anticipate that each CPS area will see an equivalent reduction in spending. It is not possible to provide a specific spending reduction figure for Stoke-on-Trent as budgets and expenditure are not allocated by individual towns.

Custodial Treatment: Death

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many young people have died in custody since 1 April 2012.

Jeremy Wright: The latest figures, which cover the period up to September 2012, show that there have been no deaths of young people (those aged under 18) in custody since 1 April 2012.

Industrial Disputes: Shrewsbury

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice which former Ministers were consulted in relation to his decision to withhold papers relating to the case of the Shrewsbury 24; and if he will make a statement.

Jeremy Wright: It is for individual Government Departments holding particular papers falling within the scope of the “security and intelligence instrument” to decide whether they wish to rely on it to retain them.
	Although the Public Records Act 1958 usually requires the transfer of public records to The National Archives by the time they are 30 years old (this is currently being reduced to 20 years), it also permits the retention of records by transferring bodies in certain circumstances. Successive Lord Chancellors since 1967 have been satisfied that security and intelligence information falls within the categories information that may be retained, and have signed a “security and intelligence instrument” to approve this approach. The “security and intelligence instrument” was most recently renewed in December 2011 and applies until 31 December 2021. Before it was renewed, assurances were provided by ministers in other Government Departments and those responsible for the records of other public records bodies that this protection is necessary.

Intoxicating Substances (Supply) Act 1985

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prosecutions have been brought in each year since the passing of the Intoxicating Substances Supply Act 1985; and how many such prosecutions have been successful.

Jeremy Wright: The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts and offenders found guilty at all courts for offences under the Intoxicating Substances Supply Act 1985, in England and Wales, for the period 1985 to 2011 (the latest available), can be viewed in the following table.
	
		
			 Defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for offences under the Intoxicating Substance Act 1985(1), England and Wales, 1985 to 2011(2,3) 
			  Proceeded against Found guilty 
			 1985 0 0 
			 1986 6 2 
			 1987 15 11 
			 1988 7 4 
			 1989 12 9 
			 1990 7 4 
			 1991 8 6 
			 1992 5 3 
			 1993 5 3 
			 1994 7 4 
			 1995 3 0 
			 1996 4 2 
			 1997 11 5 
			 1998 4 3 
			 1999 9 4 
			 2001 1 0 
			 2002 0 0 
			 2003 2 0 
			 2004 2 1 
			 2005 0 0 
			 2006 1 1 
			 2007 2 2 
			 2008(4) 0 0 
			 2009 0 0 
			 2010 5 0 
			 2011 0 0 
			 (1) Includes offences under S.1 of the Act, relating to "supply of intoxicating substances". (2) The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (3) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (4) Excludes data for Cardiff magistrates court for April, July and August 2008. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice

National Archives

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many files are held in the National Archives which are exempted from the 30 year rule; and how many of those files relate to (a) alleged membership of the Communist party or associated organisations, (b) uses of espionage and (c) people who are still alive.

Jeremy Wright: The National Archives' catalogue lists over 11 million records. Of these 118,609 files more than 30 years old are currently closed to public access. Access to these records can be requested under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
	Titles and descriptions for closed records appear on The National Archives' online catalogue at nationalarchives.gov.uk/Discovery. These are searchable by a variety of criteria including keywords. However, to determine how many closed files relate to (a), (b) and (c), the contents of each file would need to be examined in detail. This is because files may contain information about certain subjects or individuals that is not included in their catalogue title. Therefore it would incur a disproportionate cost to provide the answer to (a), (b) and (c).

Personal Injury: Compensation

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the number of qualified solicitors and their staff who will be made redundant following planned changes to fixed fees for road traffic accident personal injury claims;
	(2)  what discussions (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Department have had with representatives of (i) the insurance industry, (ii) motoring organisations, (iii) personal injury lawyers and (iv) members of the public about proposed changes to arrangements for claims in personal injury cases in road traffic accidents.

Helen Grant: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Liverpool, Walton (Steve Rotheram) on 12 December 2012, Official Report, column 370W.
	Evidence for these proposals has been gathered through engagement with both the insurance industry and claimant representatives at both ministerial and official level; a call for evidence conducted in early 2012; and further consultations on specific aspects of the planned changes the most recent of which closed on 4 January.

Probation

Mike Gapes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the skills available and role of private security firms in the management of people with mental health problems on probation.

Jeremy Wright: The Ministry of Justice is consulting on proposals to reform the way in which offenders are rehabilitated in the community, including opening up rehabilitation services to a more diverse range of providers.
	Under our proposed reforms, we expect that existing probation professionals will work in the public, private and voluntary sectors. They will use their considerable skills and experience to work with all offenders including those with mental health problems and other complex needs, to reduce reoffending and protect the public. All providers in the new market will be required to sustain appropriate skills for these services. We have sought consultees' views on the best way of ensuring that professional standards are maintained and the quality of training and accreditation assured.
	The consultation closes on 22 February 2013 and we will announce further details of our proposals once we have considered responses.

Probation

Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether he intends to provide voluntary sector organisations with incentives to participate in payment by results schemes in the probation system.

Jeremy Wright: The Ministry of Justice is consulting on proposals to reform the way in which offenders are rehabilitated in the community, including opening up rehabilitation services to a more diverse range of providers who will be paid by results to reduce reoffending.
	As we made clear in the consultation paper, to support voluntary and community sector (VCS) providers to engage in payment by results arrangements, we will work to ensure that lead providers do not pass down disproportionate levels of financial risk to the VCS. We aim to ensure sustainable funding streams are available and will support the VCS to access social investment.
	We are providing an extra £500,000 of grant funding to support VCS organisations to compete for payment by results contracts, on top of existing grants to infrastructure bodies. An initial £l50,000 has been awarded to the social enterprise 3SC, to design an action plan for preparing VCS providers to participate in payment by results contracts. The remaining funding will be available in 2013-14 to support the implementation of the action plan.
	During the consultation period, we have run events aimed specifically at current and potential providers from the VCS. We will announce further details of our proposals once we have considered the responses to the consultation, which closes on 22 February 2013.

Richard III

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether the Government will consider a site for the burial of King Richard III other than in Leicester.

Helen Grant: It is not for the Government or Ministry of Justice to decide where the remains of Richard III will be reinterred. This is solely a matter for Leicester university who were granted a licence to exhume buried remains which could have been those of King Richard III.

Slavery

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will record which local authority areas victims of slavery were found in prior to their referral to the National Referral Mechanism.

Mark Harper: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Home Department.
	Data on the location of the local authority where victims of human trafficking have been found are not routinely recorded at present. As set out in the inter-departmental ministerial group report on human trafficking, published on 18 October 2012, the Government are focusing on improving its collection of data on human trafficking victims to strengthen the UK's response to this crime.

Solicitors Regulation Authority

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what representations he has received about the effectiveness of the Solicitors Regulation Authority; and if he will make a statement.

Helen Grant: The Solicitors Regulation Authority are an independent statutory body. The correspondence I receive is usually in relation to how they deal with professional misconduct complaints against solicitors and the time taken to deal with applications from firms seeking to become an Alternative Business Structure. Since 2012 Ministers have received a total of eight letters relating to the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

Young Offenders: Greater London

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 6 February 2013, Official Report, column 325W, on young offenders: Greater London, what proportion of young offenders leaving custody in each London borough reoffended within 12 months from their release in (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11 and (c) 2011-12; what the total figure was for 2011-12; and if he will make a statement.

Jeremy Wright: Proven re-offending rates (i.e. the proportion of offenders who re-offend) based on a small number of offenders are difficult to interpret and can lead to misleading conclusions when comparing rates of different groups. Following discussions with the UK Statistics Authority while developing the proven re-offending statistics in 2011, Ministry of Justice statisticians agreed not to produce proven re-offending rates for groups based on less than 30 offenders.
	For this reason we do not produce proven re-offending rates for juveniles leaving custody in each London borough; all would be based on fewer than 30 offenders per year.
	Re-offending rates for 2011-12 are not yet available. This is because we allow a one year follow up period for re-offending to occur, and a further six month waiting period for offences to be processed by the courts. Re-offending rates for the year ending March 2012 will be published in the Proven Re-offending Statistics Quarterly Bulletin in January 2014.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Asylum

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 21 January 2013, Official Report, column 2W, on asylum, whether her Department plans to ensure that all data held by the UK Border Agency is held in a format compatible with national statistics protocols.

Mark Harper: To produce and publish all data held internally by the agency in accordance with the national statistics protocols would incur disproportionate cost. However, UK Border Agency officials and Home Office statisticians keep under review what information should be developed and regularly published, based on feedback from users, and available resources.

Asylum

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 22 January 2013, Official Report, columns 151-2W, on asylum, how many cases were removed from the detained fast track process in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012.

Mark Harper: The number of asylum seekers, excluding dependants, accepted onto the fast track process in 2010 and 2011 who were taken out of process before an initial decision was 478 and 408 respectively.
	Cases may be taken out of the fast track system before the initial decision and processed in the usual way. Reasons for removal from the fast track process include: pre-decision appointments made by the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture or the Helen Bamber Foundation; applicants granted bail by the courts; and cases reclassified by the courts.
	Figures for 2012 will be published in the Immigration Statistics April to June 2013 release on the 29 August 2013.
	Data on the detained fast track process are published in tables as.11 and as.12 (Asylum data tables Volume 4) of Immigration Statistics. The latest release Immigration Statistics release, September to July 2012, is available in the Library of the House and from the Home Office Science website at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/science-research-statistics/research-statistics/immigration-asylum-research/immigration-q3-2012/

Asylum: Afghanistan

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what progress she has made under the European Return Platform for Unaccompanied Minors on the establishment of (a) care centres and (b) reception centres for children in Afghanistan; where each detention centre is; who manages each such centre; whether an agreement has been signed to proceed with forced returns; and when any returns will begin;
	(2)  how many asylum-seeking children have been returned to reception centres in Kabul under the joint European Returns Platform for Unaccompanied Minors project to date.

Mark Harper: The Government are working with Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands in progressing the European Return Platform for Unaccompanied Minors (ERPUM) project, whose aim is to establish arrangements in Afghanistan that make it possible to safely return a limited number of unaccompanied children, who have been refused asylum, to their families or to other suitable care arrangements.
	The Government will ensure these care arrangements meet standards published by the UNHCR.
	No care centres or reception facilities have yet been established for children returning to Afghanistan and there is no intention to place them in detention centres. No children have yet been returned. Decisions as to whether it is appropriate to return unaccompanied children are always made on a case by case basis, taking into account the child's best interests.

Cybercrime

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what definition her Department uses for cybercrime.

James Brokenshire: The Government's Cyber Security Strategy made it clear that there are crimes which only exist in the digital world, in particular those that target the integrity of computer networks and online systems. However, the internet is also used to commit crimes such as theft and fraud, often on an industrial scale.
	The internet has provided new opportunities for those who seek to exploit children and the vulnerable.
	There is no offence of cybercrime in law. Offences involving illegal access to computer systems may be prosecuted under the Computer Misuse Act 1990, but many other offences committed online would be prosecuted under legislation dealing with the substantive offence, such as fraud.

Databases: Telecommunications

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will publish a statement of the categories of expenditure under which costs have been incurred as part of the communications capabilities development programme since 2010; and what proportion of such expenditure was made in respect of (a) consultancy and (b) capital expenditure.

James Brokenshire: holding answer 7 February 2013
	The Strategic Defence and Security Review 2010 highlighted the need to preserve the ability of the security, intelligence and law enforcement agencies to obtain communications data and to intercept communications within the appropriate legal framework.
	Since 2010 the Communications Capabilities Development programme has worked with the communications industry under the provisions of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000, and the EU Data Retention Directive to ensure as technology and communications services change the security, intelligence and law enforcement agencies maintain the capabilities to carry out lawful interception and where authorised obtain communications data.
	Of the £405 million that has been spent since May 2010 it is estimated that £55.1 million has been spent on consultancy across the full range of programme activity. A more detailed analysis of the figures cannot be provided without compromising national security.

Departmental Responsibilities

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what her Department's core statutory obligations are; and what estimate she has of the annual cost of delivering each such obligation.

James Brokenshire: The core statutory obligations of the Home Office are set out in the Appropriation Act for each year which authorise the use of resources for each Department. The core functions listed include functions in relation to the police, emergency planning, crime reduction and prevention, identity management and passports, counter-terrorism and control of immigration and nationality, among others.
	The costs of delivering the obligations are published in the Main Estimates and the Home Office annual report and accounts.

Dual Nationality

Gareth Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many British citizens currently have dual citizenship.

Mark Harper: No statistical information is available showing whether British citizens also hold another citizenship.

Entry Clearances: Internet

David Ward: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information her Department holds on fast track visa service appointments being offered for sale online by solicitors.

Mark Harper: The UK Border Agency is aware that a small number of representatives are failing to comply with its terms and conditions and are engaging in speculative appointment booking, or re-selling appointments. Where it is identified that this activity is taking place the facility is withdrawn from the representative involved. The UK Border Agency is currently planning changes to the appointment booking system which will mitigate this issue in future.

Fraud

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases Action Fraud has taken up in each of the last three years.

Jeremy Browne: According to the National Fraud Authority, Action Fraud, the UK's national reporting centre for fraud and internet crime, took 9,690 reports from March 2010 to January 2011, 52,636 reports from February 2011 to January 2012 and 150,415 reports from February 2012 to January 2013.
	All reports are transferred to the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau which is run by the City of London Police, the national lead force on fraud, for analysis and dissemination to police forces to consider for investigation.

Fraud

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many reports of fraud by members of the public to her Department's Action Fraud website resulted in a (a) criminal investigation and (b) referral from the police to the Crown Prosecution Service for a charging decision in 2012.

Jeremy Browne: The number of criminal investigations resulting from reports to Action Fraud is not held centrally. Referrals from police forces to the Crown Prosecution Service as a result of reports from Action Fraud are not identified separately.

Fraud

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many reports of fraud made to Action Fraud have led to a successful prosecution in each of the last three years.

Jeremy Browne: Information on prosecutions which have resulted from reports made to Action Fraud in the last three years cannot be extracted from all fraud cases.

Ibrahim Magag

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether Ibrahim Magag has yet been apprehended by the police.

James Brokenshire: holding answer 31 January 2013
	The abscond of Ibrahim Magag is currently subject to an ongoing police investigation. It would not be appropriate to discuss the operational details.

Immigration

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the number of people who are likely to arrive in the UK from Bulgaria and Romania following the end of transitional controls.

Mark Harper: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 27 November 2012, Official Report, column 183W.
	We have not prepared forecasts of likely inflows from Romania and Bulgaria once restrictions are lifted. Such forecasts are unlikely to be reliable because they are dependent on too many variable factors.
	In November 2011 when considering the impacts of ending transitional controls on Romanians and Bulgarians, the independent Migration Advisory Committee concluded that it would not be sensible, or helpful to policymakers, for us to attempt to put a precise range around this likely impact.
	Rather than produce speculative projections, we are focusing on work across Government to cut out abuse of free movement and address pull factors, such as access to benefits and public services.

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many crimes were committed by people suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder in the last five years.

Jeremy Browne: The information requested is not available from the police recorded crime data collected by the Home Office.

Prostitution

Mark Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what incentive she gives to police forces in England and Wales to confiscate assets in raids of brothels, massage parlours and saunas; and if she will make a statement.

Jeremy Browne: The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 provides law enforcement agencies and prosecutors with powers to deprive offenders of the proceeds of their crimes. Under the Asset Recovery Incentivisation Scheme, 50% of the value of recovered assets is returned to the police and front-line agencies involved to be reinvested in activity supporting financial investigation, asset recovery and tackling serious and organised crime.

Prostitution

Mark Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many brothels in each London borough have been closed as a result of police activity in the last 18 months.

Jeremy Browne: This information is not held centrally.

Serious Organised Crime Agency: Northern Ireland

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many complaints have been received from people in Northern Ireland regarding activities carried out by officers acting under the auspices of the Serious Organised Crime Agency in the last three years.

Jeremy Browne: The Serious Organised Crime Agency has not received any public complaints regarding its activity in Northern Ireland in the last three years.

Terrorism Act 2000

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what the average duration of time that section 47A of the Terrorism Act 2000 as amended in the Terrorism Act 2000 (Remedial) Order 2011 was invoked (a) nationally and (b) in each police force area in each of the last two years;
	(2)  how many times the powers under section 47A of the Terrorism Act 2000 as amended in the Terrorism Act 2000 (Remedial) Order 2011 have been invoked (a) nationally and (b) in each police force area in each year since that Order's introduction;
	(3)  what the average duration of time that section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 has been invoked (a) nationally and (b) in each police force area in each year since that Act's implementation;
	(4)  how many times the powers under section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 were invoked (a) in total and (b) in each police force area in each year since that Act's implementation.

James Brokenshire: holding answer 7 February 2013
	Available information relates to the number of stops and searches under section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 from 2001-02 to 2010-11, broken down by police force area, and is given in the table.
	To date, no authorisations for the use of stop and search powers under section 47A of the Terrorism Act 2000 have been issued, therefore no searches under this power have taken place.
	Data to calculate the average time for which section 44 stop and search powers were invoked are not collected centrally.
	
		
			 Number of stops and searches of persons and vehicles under section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000, by police force area, England and Wales 2001-02 to 2010-11 
			 Police force area and region 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 
			 Cleveland — — 3 7 5 — 23 — — — 
			 Durham 238 — — — 5 — 17 — — — 
			 Northumbria — — — 381 6 39 24 — — — 
			 North East region 238 — 3 388 16 39 64 — — — 
			            
			 Cheshire 387 320 6 1 6 5 67 16 20 — 
			 Cumbria — — — — — — 91 190 65 — 
			 Greater Manchester 36 509 858 1,755 — 8 185 1,165 151 26 
			 Lancashire — 155 — — — — 510 — — — 
			 Merseyside — — — — — 1 664 75 4 — 
			 North West region 423 984 864 1,756 6 14 1,517 1,446 240 26 
			            
			 Humberside — — — — — — 2 — — — 
			 North Yorkshire 8 110 68 198 224 208 216 167 154 30 
			 South Yorkshire 263 105 — — 1 — 61 — — — 
			 West Yorkshire — 18 216 26 437 73 16 — — — 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 271 233 284 224 662 281 295 167 154 30 
			            
			 Derbyshire 20 — — — — — — — — — 
			 Leicestershire 136 45 9 — 28 2 9 — — — 
			 Lincolnshire — — — — 6 3 4 — — — 
			 Northamptonshire — — — — 196 2 — — — — 
			 Nottinghamshire — — — — 4 2 — — — — 
			 East Midlands region 156 45 9 — 234 9 13 — — — 
			            
			 Staffordshire — — — — — — — — — — 
			 Warwickshire — — — — 19 3 2 — — — 
			 West Mercia 5 — 11 2 9 2 5 — — — 
			 West Midlands — 36 155 1 — — 347 — — — 
			 West Midlands region 5 36 166 3 28 5 354 — — — 
			            
			 Bedfordshire 8 31 6 — 6 29 68 — — — 
			 Cambridgeshire — — 11 6 — — 10 — — — 
			 Essex — 7 989 3,741 3,081 452 1,726 2,194 394 30 
			 Hertfordshire 4 — — 14 23 — 47 — — — 
			 Norfolk 2 5 8 — 4 4 6 — — — 
			 Suffolk — 3 3 — 2 — 2 — — — 
			 Eastern region 14 46 1,017 3,761 3,116 485 1,859 2,194 394 30 
			            
			 London, City of 3,495 4,644 7,276 6,986 7,056 2,238 2,691 2,594 1,390 653 
			 Metropolitan Police 4,071 23,441 19,692 16,378 27,516 29,525 108,216 197,440 87,692 9,913 
			 London region 7,566 28,085 26,968 23,364 34,572 31,763 110,907 200,034 89,082 10,566 
			            
			 Hampshire 12 294 713 1,763 7,094 2,565 3,481 1,950 58 — 
			 Kent 257 141 13 195 59 29 66 — — — 
			 Surrey 2 67 129 943 1,552 2,248 2,559 1,002 — — 
			 Sussex 1,077 351 593 2,648 — 910 1,743 1,403 1,281 232 
			 Thames Valley — 900 207 115 260 118 244 65 145 19 
			 South East region 1,348 1,753 1,655 5,664 8,965 5,870 8,093 4,420 1,484 251 
			            
		
	
	
		
			 Avon and Somerset — — — — 9 3 72 — — — 
			 Devon and Cornwall 129 — 42 — 2 1 1 — — — 
			 Dorset — — 231 17 — 14 94 — — — 
			 Gloucestershire 36 898 1,356 — 30 4 77 — — — 
			 Wiltshire — — — — 2 1 — — — — 
			 South West region 165 898 1,629 17 43 23 244 — — — 
			            
			 England total 10,186 32,080 32,595 35,177 47,642 38,489 123,346 208,261 91,354 10,903 
			            
			 Dyfed-Powys — — — — 2 — 9 — — — 
			 Gwent — 7 — — 8 — 10 — — — 
			 North Wales — — 3 1 34 77 158 — — — 
			 South Wales — — 1,200 1,835 2,361 4,268 3,183 1,752 213 91 
			 Wales — 7 1,203 1,836 2,405 4,345 3,360 1,752 213 91 
			            
			 British Transport Police(1) (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— 17,118 798 
			            
			 England and Wales 10,186 32,087 33,798 37,013 50,047 42,834 126,706 210,013 108,685 11,792 
			 (1) The British Transport Police did not supply data on stops and searches to the Home Office prior to 2009-10.

DEFENCE

Defence: Procurement

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of the value of each of the major projects in his Department's equipment plan 2012 has been allocated to risk funding.

Philip Dunne: I refer the hon. Member to the Equipment Plan statement given by the Secretary of State for Defence, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), on 31 January 2013, Official Report, column 53WS.
	I am withholding the specific risk funding by individual project since its disclosure would prejudice commercial interests. The overall figure for risk inside costing of £8.4 billion over the years 2012-13 to 2021-22 is some 5.7% of the cost of the core programme.

Military Aid

Russell Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost is of each overseas training mission between UK armed forces and those of the host country.

Philip Dunne: holding answer 12 February 2013
	The Ministry of Defence currently has permanent training teams overseas as follows, with estimated costs for the last year for which costs are available shown for those funded by Her Majesty's Government:
	
		
			 Funded by the Conflict Pool 
			  £ million 
			 Kenya 4.5 
			 Libya 1.1 
			 Nigeria 0.9 
			 Sierra Leone 4.8 
			 South Africa 1.4 
		
	
	
		
			 Funded by the Conflict Pool and the Defence Assistance Fund 
			  £ million 
			 Czech Republic 2.3 
		
	
	Funded by the host nation
	Brunei
	Jordan
	Kuwait
	Oman
	Qatar
	Saudi Arabia
	UAE
	Details of counter-narcotics work in Colombia, including costs, are not divulged because of the risks to the individuals concerned.

Military Decorations: Havering

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many service medals have been awarded to armed forces personnel from the borough of Havering; and how this figure compares to the national average.

Mark Francois: Data for how many service medals have been awarded to armed forces personnel from specific geographical locations such as Havering are not held. Consequently, it is not possible to compare the figure for medals issued to those personnel from Havering to that of the national average.
	Since 7 February 2012, a total of 186,850(1 )medals have been issued to serving personnel and veterans (including the Diamond Jubilee Medal).
	(1) The above figure refers to campaign and official commemorative medals, and does not include honours or awards.

Staff

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many staff were employed by his Department in each of the last five years; and at what grade or pay band such staff were appointed.

Mark Francois: The following table details the number of civilian staff and their grade or pay band employed in the Ministry of Defence as at 1 April in each of the last five years, and at 1 January 2013.
	
		
			 Grade/pay band 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 January 2013 
			 Senior civil service and equivalent 300 300 290 270 240 240 
			 Pay Band B 2,450 2,440 2,470 2,430 2,210 2,210 
			 Pay Band C 16,540 16,800 16,630 16,680 15,170 14,490 
			 Pay Band D 10,990 10,580 10,440 9,930 8,890 8,380 
			 Pay Band E 23,490 22,800 22,440 20,870 17,370 15,460 
			 Other non-industrial 940 110 300 10 40 40 
			 Industrial 12,060 11,100 11,010 10,580 8,600 7,840 
			 Trading funds 9,210 9,630 9,730 9,350 7,110 7,210 
			 Royal Fleet Auxiliary 2,270 2,300 2,330 2,360 2,000 1,940 
			 Locally engaged civilians 11,240 10,550 10,200 10,580 9,390 8,350 
			 Overall total civilian level 89,500 86,620 85,850 83,060 71,010 66,170 
			 Source: DASA (Civilian) 
		
	
	The numbers above are on a full-time equivalent basis.
	The senior civil service (SCS) numbers includes those outside the SCS, who are of equivalent grade, primarily senior medical specialists.
	Other non industrials include industrial personnel on temporary promotion to non-industrial grades and personnel for whom no grade information is available.
	Where rounding has been used, totals and sub-totals have been rounded separately and so may not equal the sums of their rounded parts.
	When rounding to the nearest 10, numbers ending in five have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias.
	The above information is available from the DASA Quarterly Civilian Personnel Report which can be found at:
	www.dasa.mod.uk

Warships

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the comparative costs of building, during the gap between completion of the future aircraft carriers and the beginning of the construction of the planned Type 26 frigates, (a) no warships, (b) one offshore patrol vessel (OPV), (c) two OPVs and (d) three OPVs; and if he will make a statement.

Philip Dunne: holding answer 11 February 2012
	The Terms of Business Agreement (TOBA) is the vehicle agreed by the last Administration for the Ministry of Defence and BAE Systems to address any potential workload gap between the drawdown of the Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carrier programme and the start of build work on the planned Type 26 Global Combat Ship. TOBA discussions with BAE Systems are ongoing.

EDUCATION

Children in Care: Missing Persons

Michael Connarty: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  how many children placed in care ran away or went missing from local authority care in each of the last three years;
	(2)  how many child victims of human trafficking ran away or went missing from local authority care in each of the last three years.

Edward Timpson: Data on the number of children who go missing from their care placements for more than 24 hours are collected by the Department for Education and shown in the table. While these figures will include some children who may have been trafficked, it is not possible to disaggregate the number of trafficked or potentially trafficked children.
	There are however significant differences between the data collected by DFE and the police on children who go missing from care. We want better, consistent data, and more importantly, better practice to keep these young people safe. An expert group on data has been looking at this issue. We will begin piloting a new data collection in the next few months. This will, for the first time, collect information on all children who go missing from their placement, not just those missing for 24 hours, enabling better analysis and more effective practice to safeguard these young people.
	Local authorities have an overall statutory duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. This includes preventing and mitigating the risk of them going missing from care. Local authorities work in close co-operation with the police and the UK Border Agency to support, and provide protection for, potentially trafficked children. Our forthcoming revised statutory guidance on children who go missing from home or care will include advice on how to safeguard trafficked children. We have also asked the Refugee Council and The Children's Society to carry out a review of the practical care arrangements for children in care who may have been trafficked.
	
		
			 Looked after children who were missing from their agreed placement, years ending 31 March 2010-12, Coverage: England 
			  Children looked after who went missing during the year (number) 
			 2010 820 
			 2011 950 
			 2012 1,510 
			 Source: SSDA903

Schools: Cricket

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he is taking to increase the uptake of cricket in schools.

Edward Timpson: The Government are keen to put competitive sport, including cricket, at the heart of school life and this is reflected in our new curriculum for PE. Schools will be expected to provide competitive sport for their pupils and are free to choose cricket—among other sports—to fulfil that requirement.
	In addition, the Government's Youth Sport Strategy, launched in January 2012, is providing £1 billion of funding over the five years 2012-13 to 2016-17 to help to ensure that young people are regularly playing sport, including cricket.
	The Government are currently designing a strategy to maintain the momentum of the Olympic and Paralympic Games and will make an announcement shortly.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Housing: Taxation

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what representations he has received on the effect of the (a) affordable housing levy and (b) community interest levy on small family building businesses and single propriertor architects;
	(2)  how many representations he has received on the effect of the (a) affordable housing levy and (b) community interest levy on self-build.

Nicholas Boles: We receive and consider correspondence on many aspects of planning policy and that includes those dealing with the Community Infrastructure Levy and Section 106 agreements in relation to smaller developments.
	As outlined in my answer of 28 January 2013, Official Report, column 583W, the Community Infrastructure Levy was a measure introduced under the last Administration, although the Government continue to listen to issues raised by those charging and paying it and has already reformed how it operates.
	We have regular discussions with representatives of the property industry about the Levy and want to ensure that it operates in a way that is both fair to developers and beneficial to economic growth.
	We are currently reviewing what further steps can be taken to ensure that self-build and genuine small-scale development is not adversely affected by the introduction of the Levy.
	We are taking forward reforms in respect of Section 106 agreements, to help renegotiate economically unrealistic affordable housing requirements, and to deliver more housing and more affordable housing than would otherwise be the case.

Housing: Taxation

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many representations he has received supporting the use of the affordable housing levy to tax single self-build properties.

Nicholas Boles: We receive and consider correspondence on many aspects of planning policy and that includes those dealing with the affordable housing requirements in Section 106 obligations.
	As outlined in my answer of 28 January 2013, Official Report, column 583W, the Community Infrastructure Levy was a measure introduced under the last Administration, although we are taking a series of steps to improve and reform it, including the potential impact on self-build.
	We are taking forward reforms in respect of Section 106 agreements, to help renegotiate economically unrealistic affordable housing requirements, and to deliver more housing and more affordable housing than would otherwise be the case.

Motor Sports

Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what discussions he has had on the development of an international motor sport circuit near to the Brecon Beacons National Park; and what information his Department has received on such plans.

Nicholas Boles: This is a devolved matter. The Department for Communities and Local Government has not received any representations on this subject.

WOMEN AND EQUALITIES

Equality

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities if she will assess the influence of tolerance towards minorities and overall levels of well-being in society.

Helen Grant: The Office for National Statistics is making progress in analysing well-being data while the cross-Government Social Impacts Task Force is sharing well-being research and practice across Whitehall.
	It is not yet possible to analyse the influence of tolerance towards minorities on overall levels of well-being in society, but this is something that may be possible in the future as well-being is added to new policy surveys.

Equality

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities what assessment she has made of the long-term trends in tolerance towards (a) gay and lesbian, (b) ethnic minorities, (c) disabled and (d) religious minorities.

Helen Grant: No assessment exists at present of long term trends in tolerance towards the specific groups listed in the question; however, the Government Equalities Office has analysed the available data on changes in attitudes towards equality more generally. This work can be found at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/equalities/research/changing-attitudes
	Additionally, Chapter 3 of the Equality and Human Rights Commission's first triennial review, "How Fair is Britain" considers this issue in relation to some of the groups listed and can be found at:
	http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/key-projects/how-fair-is-britain/full-report-and-evidence-downloads/

Regulation

Gordon Banks: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities what regulations the Government and Equalities Office have repealed in the last six months; and what has been the anticipated cost savings of each such repeal.

Helen Grant: The Government Equalities Office has not repealed any regulations in the last six months.